Stifel Nicolaus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective increased by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 8.23% from the company’s current price.

DRI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. 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 note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.84.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $198.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $203.47. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $191.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,019,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. 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.