Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Downgraded to In-Line Rating by Evercore

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) was downgraded by equities researchers at Evercore from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $230.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Evercore’s target price points to a potential upside of 8.66% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on DRI. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Barclays increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.25.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $211.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $200.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $200.14. The stock has a market cap of $24.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $224.94.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,941,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 44.8% during the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the third quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,556,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.