Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target upped by research analysts at Barclays from $230.00 to $235.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Barclays‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 18.11% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.04.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $198.96. 691,492 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,249,182. The firm has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $191.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.31. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $203.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

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

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.