Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $218.00 Price Target at Oppenheimer

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from $200.00 to $218.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target suggests a potential upside of 18.68% from the stock’s previous close.

DRI has been the topic of several other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $188.16.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $183.69 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $172.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.19. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $189.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 395.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.