Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $210.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $165.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target indicates a potential downside of 3.24% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on DRI. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.92.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.4%

DRI opened at $217.04 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $205.23 and its 200-day moving average is $194.36. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $220.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $25.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $642,967,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $192,987,000 after acquiring an additional 926,901 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $84,801,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,137,000. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,919,000. 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.