Morgan Stanley Raises Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $255.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective lifted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $236.00 to $255.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 19.02% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on DRI. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday. Stephens lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Argus upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.58.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.1%

DRI traded up $4.36 during trading on Monday, reaching $214.25. The company had a trading volume of 115,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,326,193. The company has a market cap of $24.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $229.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $210.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.68.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 11.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Laura Williamson sold 443 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.89, for a total value of $90,766.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,134,271.04. This trade represents a 7.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total transaction of $8,181,354.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 86,146 shares in the company, valued at $18,009,682.76. This represents a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 25,118.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 35,137,478 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,238,672,000 after purchasing an additional 34,998,143 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth approximately $2,015,109,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,486,434,000 after acquiring an additional 3,613,781 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $651,813,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $204,099,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc (NYSE: DRI) is a full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It operates and franchises a portfolio of dining brands serving a range of cuisines, price points and occasions, with restaurants primarily located in the United States and select international markets.

Its restaurant portfolio includes Olive Garden, an Italian-American dining chain; LongHorn Steakhouse; Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen; Yard House; The Capital Grille; Seasons 52; Bahama Breeze; Eddie V’s; Ruth’s Chris Steak House; and Chuy’s.