Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Insider Sells $68,867.73 in Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) insider Laura B. Williamson sold 333 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.81, for a total transaction of $68,867.73. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,121,530.63. This trade represents a 5.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of DRI opened at $201.69 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.10 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $23.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $214.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $830,666,000 after acquiring an additional 247,542 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $748,215,000 after acquiring an additional 157,305 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $530,121,000 after purchasing an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $300,446,000 after purchasing an additional 4,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $269,117,000 after purchasing an additional 158,168 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DRI. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.19.

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.