Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $225.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on DRI. Barclays lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.38.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $222.75 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.58. The firm has a market cap of $26.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.75. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $226.98.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.68% and a net margin of 8.96%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 171.4% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 108.8% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centennial Bank AR purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.