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

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $206.00 to $230.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 25.18% from the company’s current price.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.12.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $183.73 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $173.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.58. The company has a market capitalization of $21.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $189.18.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s 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 owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth about $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.