Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Sanford C. Bernstein

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) was upgraded by stock analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $215.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their previous target price of $180.00. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.45% from the stock’s current price.

DRI has been the subject of several other reports. Stephens upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.52.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $186.22 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $189.18. The stock has a market cap of $21.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $177.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in 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.