Key Points
- Darden SVP Douglas Milanes sold 3,620 shares on April 17 at an average price of $202.16 for about $731,819, cutting his ownership by 92.96% and leaving him with 274 shares.
- The company reported Q EPS of $2.95 (beat by $0.01) and revenue of $3.35B (up 5.9% YoY), and analysts hold a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $226.24.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) SVP Douglas Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.
Darden Restaurants Trading Down 2.4%
Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $196.97 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $22.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.64. The company's fifty day moving average is $203.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.02.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.
Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.49%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $226.24.
Read Our Latest Research Report on DRI
Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,941,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, apricus wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.2% during the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.
Darden Restaurants Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.
Darden's restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand's positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.
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