Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $188.82 and last traded at $185.67, with a volume of 897627 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.87.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $166.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,293 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $24,832,000 after acquiring an additional 5,816 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 824.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,741 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,687,000 after buying an additional 36,334 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,081,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,901,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $326,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.