Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $88.00

25 May 2020, 13:06 by Sarita Garza

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective upped by KeyCorp from $75.00 to $88.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, BenzingaRatingsTable reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a sell rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $114.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, March 20th. MKM Partners upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Deutsche Bank lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $50.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, ValuEngine upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $89.23.

Shares of DRI opened at $75.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.41. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $26.15 and a fifty-two week high of $128.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.06.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 32.51%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Eugene I. Lee, Jr. bought 25,641 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.50 per share, with a total value of $1,499,998.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 177,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,369,944. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO David C. George acquired 4,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.50 per share, for a total transaction of $249,970.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 64,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,798,288. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 37,178 shares of company stock worth $2,174,913 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Efficient Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. First Financial Corp IN grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 150.0% during the 1st quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. 88.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. As of May 27, 2018, it owned and operated approximately 1,746 restaurants under the Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, and Eddie V's brands.