Insider Selling: Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Sells $1,710,875.52 in Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $179.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $173.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $189.18. The company has a market capitalization of $21.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. 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 prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the third 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 increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $629,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.4% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DRI. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.