Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Susan M. Connelly Sells 3,320 Shares

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock traded down $2.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $162.07. The company had a trading volume of 360,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,242,439. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $154.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $19.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 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 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders 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 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.4% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,766,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 1,640 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. United Community Bank now owns 5,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on DRI. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.25.

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.