Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Evercore ISI

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) was upgraded by research analysts at Evercore ISI from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $205.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their prior price target of $165.00. Evercore ISI’s target price suggests a potential upside of 20.47% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $170.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.49. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,766,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% during the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 1,640 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, United Community Bank increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.3% during the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 5,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.