UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price increased by analysts at UBS Group from $210.00 to $225.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 13.24% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.84.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded down $0.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $198.69. 326,465 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,247,739. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $203.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $191.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $772,635,000 after purchasing an additional 26,601 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $530,121,000 after acquiring an additional 39,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $300,446,000 after acquiring an additional 4,454 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.