UPDATE: Tigress Financial Partners Upgrades Darden Restaurants to Neutral as 2015 Should be Transition Year

In a report published Friday, Tigress Financial Partners analyst Ivan Feinseth upgraded the rating on

from Underperform to Neutral. In the report, Tigress Financial Partners noted, “We are upgrading our rating of DRI from underperform to neutral. Positive comparable store sales and traffic improvements at DRI's flagship Olive Garden concept in the most recent quarter, along with tailwinds from lower gas prices and diminishing inflation from food related items should benefit the company and drive incremental improvement in Darden's Key Business Performance Indicators over the next twelve months. We believe that 2015 will largely be a transition year for the company as DRI executes on its strategy to improve operating results at Olive Garden and we would like to see more concrete evidence of sustained improvement.” Darden Restaurants closed on Thursday at $61.14.