Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $185.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective increased by Bank of America from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 19.90% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $167.00 price target (down from $175.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 14th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.57.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $154.29 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $133.36 and a 12-month high of $176.84. The company has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $150.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.69.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by ($0.01). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,270,034.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,599 shares of company stock worth $2,197,891 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at $72,901,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 55.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,168,604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $167,359,000 after buying an additional 418,860 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $58,601,000. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 129.6% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 553,721 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $90,976,000 after buying an additional 312,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $45,321,000. 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.