Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Sells $734,998.05 in Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,994,800.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $156.98. 374,360 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,139,979. The company has a market cap of $18.74 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $164.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,274 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Union Savings Bank grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,766,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.7% in the third quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 13,705 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DRI. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.85.

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.