Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Truist Financial Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target increased by investment analysts at Truist Financial from $200.00 to $212.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Truist Financial’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 12.73% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective for the company. 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 note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.00.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $188.07 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $191.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.07. 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 has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $203.12. The company has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 173,318 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,357,000 after purchasing an additional 12,434 shares in the last quarter. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $1,225,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $322,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $15,175,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.