StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Cowen raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 7th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. They issued an equal weight rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. They issued a buy rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $148.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $154.76.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $148.50 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $110.96 and a one year high of $152.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.47. The business has a fifty day moving average of $147.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.50. The company has a market cap of $18.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 16th. The restaurant operator reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.11. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 42.51% and a net margin of 9.10%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Richard L. Renninger sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.99, for a total transaction of $739,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,310,240.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.95, for a total transaction of $283,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,755,069.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard L. Renninger sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.99, for a total value of $739,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,368 shares in the company, valued at $3,310,240.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,229 shares of company stock valued at $1,358,200. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 223.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,549,545 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $214,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,472 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,757,686 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $727,311,000 after purchasing an additional 763,728 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,573,384 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $217,646,000 after purchasing an additional 532,340 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,572,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $209,110,000 after purchasing an additional 394,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,373,923 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,911,012,000 after purchasing an additional 362,658 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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Darden Restaurants, Inc is a full-service restaurant company, which engages in the provision of restaurant services. It operates through the following segments: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Fine Dining, and Other Business. The Olive Garden segment is the largest full-service dining Italian restaurant operator.