Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $212.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price raised by Truist Financial from $200.00 to $212.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.33.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $188.11 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $191.37 and its 200-day moving average is $176.15. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $203.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $642,967,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $48,919,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,048,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.