Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) SVP Susan Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $858,864.65. This represents a 70.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.
Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.6%
DRI stock opened at $201.22 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $220.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business's 50 day moving average is $202.51 and its 200-day moving average is $202.22. The firm has a market cap of $23.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.80%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 13th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $229.32.
Read Our Latest Analysis on DRI
Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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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