By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $188.95 and last traded at $188.66, with a volume of 1179353 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.65.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DRI. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (up previously from $182.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.44.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on DRI
Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.1 %
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $22.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s fifty day moving average is $168.43 and its 200-day moving average is $158.06.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.
Insider Activity
In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. This trade represents a 35.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $334,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,602,433.26. This represents a 11.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,320 shares of company stock worth $1,366,948 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,293 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $24,832,000 after buying an additional 5,816 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 824.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,741 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,687,000 after acquiring an additional 36,334 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,081,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,901,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $326,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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.
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