Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Director Sells $201,294.90 in Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 10 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,719. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $166.59 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth $72,901,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $58,601,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 71.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 696,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $105,345,000 after acquiring an additional 289,876 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 139.9% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,317,000 after acquiring an additional 205,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 457,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,125,000 after acquiring an additional 204,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on DRI. Evercore ISI raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.25.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.