Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $223.00 to $229.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 15.01% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.96.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.0 %

DRI stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $199.11. 786,763 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,249,542. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $203.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $191.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.31. The company has a market capitalization of $23.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the 3rd 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $48,919,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $40,048,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.