Stephens Reiterates “Equal Weight” Rating for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating restated by Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $175.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ target price indicates a potential downside of 12.46% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $199.92 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $203.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $192.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.60. The company has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,635,000 after buying an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in 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 Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 grew its position in 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 and hedge funds.

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.