Morgan Stanley Reiterates Equal-Weight on Darden Restaurants on 3Q13 Results

In a report published Friday, Morgan Stanley analyst John Glass reiterated an Equal-Weight rating and $45.00 price target on Darden Restaurants

. In the report, Glass noted, “DRI reported 3Q13 results of $1.02 (inc $0.02 from YH acquisition) on -4.6% blended comps for OG, RL and LH. FY13 guidance of $3.06 to $3.22 (inc $0.09 from YH) on -1.5% to -2.5% blended comps is unchanged. Though traffic remained down mid-single-digits, mgmt highlighted that trends at its core brands, which had been lagging, were now in line with the CDR average in 3Q. This coupled with the fact that industry data improved in March suggests better results at DRI too. While this is encouraging, it is already baked into DRI's outlook. 4Q compares get 600 bp easier and we expect the first Q of pos comps since 3Q12.” Darden Restaurants closed on Thursday at $48.96.