Brokerages Set Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Target Price at $192.52

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and sixteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $193.33.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, March 13th.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $188.11 on Monday. 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 capitalization of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $203.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.15.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,635,000 after acquiring an additional 26,601 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $530,121,000 after buying an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $300,446,000 after buying an additional 4,454 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.