Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Insider Sells $226,795.20 in Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) insider Laura Williamson sold 1,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.32, for a total value of $226,795.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,197,257.28. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI traded down $2.09 on Tuesday, hitting $204.15. 363,914 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,394,217. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $203.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.14. The company has a market cap of $23.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $220.65.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 62.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.88.

About Darden Restaurants

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.