Ricardo Cardenas Sells 42,403 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $166.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84. The stock has a market cap of $19.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $153.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.35.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. 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. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,619 shares during the period. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,901,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 206.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,204,000 after buying an additional 33,066 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $838,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on DRI. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.25.

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.