Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Shares Gap Up to $159.14

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $159.14, but opened at $173.51. Darden Restaurants shares last traded at $169.20, with a volume of 635,457 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on DRI shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 21st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $159.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.18.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $149.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.35. The company has a market cap of $20.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $72,901,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,601,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 71.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 696,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $105,345,000 after buying an additional 289,876 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 139.9% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,317,000 after buying an additional 205,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.2% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 457,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $69,125,000 after buying an additional 204,832 shares during the last quarter. 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.