Stephens Raises Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $200.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Stephens from $178.00 to $200.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Stephens' target price would suggest a potential downside of 8.10% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.62.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $217.62. The stock had a trading volume of 783,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,374. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $220.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $204.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $193.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,688 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.5% in the first quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 4,053 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.