Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) PT Raised to $195.00 at Truist Financial

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target hoisted by Truist Financial from $185.00 to $195.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target indicates a potential upside of 14.59% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $170.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,216,000. Farmers National Bank increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.3% during the second quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,515 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,856,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 71,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,862,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.