Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Downgraded by Evercore to In-Line

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) was downgraded by stock analysts at Evercore from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $230.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock. Evercore’s price target indicates a potential upside of 8.66% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.25.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $211.67 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.40, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $224.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,486,434,000 after buying an additional 3,613,781 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,890 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,212,283 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $629,736,000 after purchasing an additional 991,230 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $144,483,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $113,301,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.