Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Upgraded to Outperform at Evercore ISI

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) was upgraded by analysts at Evercore ISI from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $205.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their previous price target of $165.00. Evercore ISI’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.00% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Argus reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.87.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $172.27 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $20.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,619 shares during the period. APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,901,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 206.5% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,204,000 after buying an additional 33,066 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $838,000. 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.