Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $211.26 and last traded at $209.53, with a volume of 107833 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $209.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.2%

The firm has a market cap of $24.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $199.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07% 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, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $830,666,000 after buying an additional 247,542 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $748,215,000 after buying an additional 157,305 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $530,121,000 after buying an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $300,446,000 after buying an additional 4,454 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $269,117,000 after buying an additional 158,168 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.