Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $221.00 and last traded at $220.4310, with a volume of 39297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $218.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Argus boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $206.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $203.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $2,047,665.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at $858,864.65. This trade represents a 70.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $1,780,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,799,490. This represents a 49.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $2,404,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 23,473 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,319,000 after buying an additional 5,830 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,587,939,000 after buying an additional 43,965 shares during the period. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $1,007,000. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 313.9% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,598 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,502,000 after acquiring an additional 10,313 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.