Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $193.12 and last traded at $192.66, with a volume of 74527 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $187.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $240,000. Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,832.9% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 53,077 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,909,000 after buying an additional 50,331 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $215,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,335 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 204.0% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 4,236 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.