Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given "Buy" Rating at TD Cowen

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by TD Cowen in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $190.00 price objective on the restaurant operator's stock. TD Cowen's price objective indicates a potential upside of 21.87% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE DRI traded down $2.41 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $155.90. The stock had a trading volume of 1,089,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,152,193. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.21. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at $3,124,959.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at $3,124,959.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,281 shares of the company's stock, valued at $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,723 shares of company stock worth $2,578,122 over the last ninety days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,274 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Union Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.7% in the third quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 2,527 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 13,705 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,963,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. 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.