Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, KeyCorp Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at KeyCorp from $226.00 to $228.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 9.63% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings cut Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.32.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI traded up $4.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $207.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 382,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,376,941. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $197.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.10.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Union Savings Bank purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.