Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Key Points

• Oppenheimer raised Darden Restaurants’ price target to $245 from $235 and maintained an “outperform” rating, implying 15.54% upside from the prior close.
• Analysts overall remain positive, with 18 Buy ratings and nine Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target price of $232.
• Darden reported quarterly EPS of $3.66, ahead of the $3.63 consensus, while revenue rose 13.7% year over year to $3.72 billion; however, insiders sold roughly $14.6 million of stock over the last quarter.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Oppenheimer from $235.00 to $245.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Oppenheimer's price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.54% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore cut shares of Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised Darden Restaurants from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $220.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $232.00.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI traded down $6.52 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $212.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 80,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,325,738. The stock's 50-day moving average is $210.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $229.76.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 11.25 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan Connelly sold 2,226 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.17, for a total value of $463,386.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at $867,028.05. This represents a 34.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total value of $8,181,354.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. The trade was a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 25,118.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 35,137,478 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $7,238,672,000 after buying an additional 34,998,143 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $2,015,109,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $651,813,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $204,099,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $144,483,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc NYSE: DRI is a full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It operates and franchises a portfolio of dining brands serving a range of cuisines, price points and occasions, with restaurants primarily located in the United States and select international markets.

Its restaurant portfolio includes Olive Garden, an Italian-American dining chain; LongHorn Steakhouse; Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen; Yard House; The Capital Grille; Seasons 52; Bahama Breeze; Eddie V's; Ruth's Chris Steak House; and Chuy's.

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