Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $210.00 Price Target at Raymond James

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price increased by research analysts at Raymond James from $200.00 to $210.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Raymond James’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 8.24% from the company’s previous close.

DRI has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $194.01 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.63. The firm has a market cap of $22.73 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $194.85.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,760,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 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.