Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Susan M. Connelly Sells 9,264 Shares

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) 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 value of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $183.73 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $189.18. The company has a market cap of $21.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on DRI. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.12.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.