Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) PT Lowered to $180.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective points to a potential upside of 16.66% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on DRI. Bank of America decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, BTIG Research raised Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.57.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $154.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.69. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,270,034.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,848,268.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,599 shares of company stock valued at $2,197,891 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 327,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $54,427,000 after purchasing an additional 47,915 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 846,994 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $141,553,000 after purchasing an additional 34,174 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 127.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 14,261 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 7,983 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 395.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,563 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,279,000 after purchasing an additional 29,989 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.