Insider Selling: Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Sells 9,264 Shares of Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $183.73 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $189.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $173.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.74. The firm has a market cap of $21.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. 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 data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after acquiring an additional 772,907 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,959,000 after purchasing an additional 375,292 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at about $40,048,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 139.9% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $53,317,000 after acquiring an additional 205,450 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. 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 research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.12.

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.