BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target boosted by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $175.00 to $190.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective points to a potential downside of 4.96% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $192.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.73. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % 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 valued at $9,850,129 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $682,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth about $409,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 93.8% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after acquiring an additional 5,756 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $241,121,000 after acquiring an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after acquiring an additional 123,900 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.