Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $194.00 at Robert W. Baird

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price increased by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $180.00 to $194.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 3.42% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE DRI opened at $187.59 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $188.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $166.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $61,959,000 after purchasing an additional 375,292 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth about $40,048,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position 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 during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.