Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given Equal Weight Rating at Stephens

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by Stephens in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $164.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ target price indicates a potential downside of 2.57% from the company’s current price.

DRI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wedbush increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.46.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $168.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $19.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $165.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.14. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $177.67.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $286,552.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,448. The trade was a 23.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,057,743.30. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after buying an additional 772,907 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,959,000 after buying an additional 375,292 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $40,048,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in 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 in 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.