Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Insider Sells $474,418.14 in Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI traded down $3.10 on Friday, hitting $204.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 797,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,274,576. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $211.00. The firm has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on DRI. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.