Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stephens Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Stephens from $200.00 to $212.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Stephens' price target suggests a potential downside of 6.23% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.85.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $226.09 on Monday. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $208.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.31. The company has a market cap of $26.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Impact Investors Inc bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $405,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $67,001,000 after buying an additional 13,074 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $27,343,000 after acquiring an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 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.

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