Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Sets New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $188.82 and last traded at $185.67, with a volume of 897627 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $159.87.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.46.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. This trade represents a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.9% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,944,000 after purchasing an additional 8,480 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at $777,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 523.9% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 194,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,995,000 after buying an additional 163,693 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.