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

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Bank of America from $272.00 to $276.00 in a research 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 would suggest a potential upside of 40.34% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on DRI. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Stephens upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.88.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded up $3.20 on Friday, hitting $196.66. 342,693 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,355,286. The stock has a market cap of $22.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $197.64 and its 200 day moving average is $197.38. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. DV Trading LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 140.6% during the first quarter. DV Trading LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,643 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 59,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $11,651,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.5% during the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 9,923 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.7% during the first quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 7,859 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.