TD Cowen Reiterates Hold Rating for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by investment analysts at TD Cowen in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $150.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 6.40% from the stock’s previous close.

DRI has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. BTIG Research upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.18.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $160.25 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.72. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

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

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.