Oppenheimer Reiterates Outperform Rating for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by Oppenheimer in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $200.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their previous target price of $182.00. Oppenheimer’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 6.62% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on DRI. Bank of America boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.3 %

DRI stock opened at $187.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $188.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. This represents a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.