Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) SVP Lindsay Koren Sells 300 Shares of Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Lindsay Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 2.5%

DRI opened at $195.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.64. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $205.35 and a 200 day moving average of $193.52.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DRI. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.24.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $341,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 424,673 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $78,274,000 after purchasing an additional 14,156 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 45,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,285,000 after acquiring an additional 2,385 shares in the last quarter. Winthrop Partners WNY LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,795,000. Finally, Union Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.