Insider Selling: Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) CEO Sells $7,279,747.04 in Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $166.59 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $153.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.25.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth $72,901,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $58,601,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 71.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 696,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $105,345,000 after acquiring an additional 289,876 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 139.9% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $53,317,000 after purchasing an additional 205,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 457,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,125,000 after purchasing an additional 204,832 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.