Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,670,000 shares, a drop of 10.3% from the August 31st total of 6,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,310,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days. Currently, 4.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:DRI traded down $1.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $166.71. 1,447,850 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,245,990. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.22.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,386 shares of company stock worth $11,446,091 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $349,268,000 after buying an additional 105,433 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after buying an additional 169,642 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $240,832,000 after purchasing an additional 18,899 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $233,075,000 after purchasing an additional 6,968 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $172,811,000 after purchasing an additional 132,643 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.25.

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.