KeyCorp Boosts Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $220.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at KeyCorp from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. KeyCorp’s price target suggests a potential upside of 10.73% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on DRI. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.84.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI traded down $0.32 on Friday, reaching $198.69. The stock had a trading volume of 326,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,247,739. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $203.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $191.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $642,967,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,919,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $40,048,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.