Oppenheimer Keeps a Buy Rating on Darden (DRI)

Oppenheimer analyst Brian Bittner maintained a Buy rating on Darden (NYSE: DRI) today and set a price target of $130. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $116.45, close to its 52-week high of $124.

Bittner commented:

“We continue see upside in DRI after it delivered a strong quarter and raised ’19 EPS guidance. The lack of near-term stock strength on the print appear mostly related to confusion around margin commentary and worries on SSS decelerating. Our conversation with management highlights confidence on EBIT margins expanding 10-30bps this year. Plus, sales trends have rock-solid momentum, and overall ‘19 guidance still tilts conservatively as it assumes SSS are only +1.5-2.2% from here, vs. +3.3% this quarter. We tick estimates higher, which we see as a recurring theme. Reiterate Outperform.”

According to TipRanks.com, Bittner is a 5-star analyst with an average return of 11.7% and a 69.8% success rate. Bittner covers the Services sector, focusing on stocks such as Restaurant Brands International, Jack In The Box Inc, and Cheesecake Factory.

Darden has an analyst consensus of Moderate Buy, with a price target consensus of $120.06, representing a 3.1% upside. In a report issued on September 11, Goldman Sachs also upgraded the stock to Buy with a $130 price target.

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Based on Darden’s latest earnings release for the quarter ending August 31, the company reported a quarterly net profit of $166 million. In comparison, last year the company had a net profit of $119 million.

Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 30 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. Most recently, in July 2018, William S. Simon, a Director at DRI sold 2,418 shares for a total of $271,034.

TipRanks has tracked 36,000 company insiders and found that a few of them are better than others when it comes to timing their transactions. See which 3 stocks are most likely to make moves following their insider activities.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. 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.