Bank of America Raises Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $276.00

Key Points

• Bank of America raised its price target on Darden Restaurants from $272 to $276 and reiterated a buy rating, implying about 40% upside from the current share price.
• Other analysts remain mostly positive on the stock, with several firms lifting targets or maintaining bullish ratings; overall, Darden has a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $226.88.
• Darden recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, posting $2.95 EPS on $3.35 billion in revenue, while shares traded around $196.66 amid strong institutional ownership and some insider selling.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by research analysts at Bank of America from $272.00 to $276.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Bank of America's target price indicates a potential upside of 40.34% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $226.88.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock traded up $3.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $196.66. The stock had a trading volume of 342,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,355,286. The company's 50 day moving average price is $197.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.38. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $22.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $17,438,000 after acquiring an additional 2,553 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,151,000 after buying an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,964,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden's restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand's positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.

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