Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target lifted by 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 17.55% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on DRI. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target for the company. Wedbush increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research 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, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $192.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.73. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $203.47. The company has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $682,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $409,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 93.8% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after purchasing an additional 5,756 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake 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 valued at $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after purchasing an additional 123,900 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.