Barclays Raises Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $230.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target lifted by analysts at Barclays from $206.00 to $230.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 25.18% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on DRI. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.12.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock opened at $183.73 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $189.18. 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 market cap of $21.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $173.22 and its 200-day moving average is $160.58.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.4% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 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.