Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock had previously closed at $188.15, but opened at $198.41. Darden Restaurants shares last traded at $200.83, with a volume of 399,776 shares changing hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.33.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 7.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $23.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $191.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.15.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $772,635,000 after acquiring an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $530,121,000 after buying an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $300,446,000 after acquiring an additional 4,454 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.