Key Points
- Insider sale: Darden Restaurants insider John Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares for approximately $1.85 million, reducing his direct ownership by 32.05% to 18,794 shares.
- Solid operating performance: The company reported quarterly EPS of $3.66, slightly above estimates, while revenue rose 13.7% year over year to $3.72 billion. Darden also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.62 per share, representing a 3.0% yield.
- Analyst outlook remains positive: Darden has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, with 17 Buy and 10 Hold ratings and an average price target of $228.88, above its reported opening price of $213.80.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) insider John Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $1,846,637.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,794 shares in the company, valued at $3,915,354.02. This represents a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.
Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.4%
DRI stock opened at $213.80 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $220.65. The business's 50-day moving average is $204.17 and its 200 day moving average is $203.12. 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 stock has a market cap of $24.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.60.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business's revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.43%.
Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants
Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.88.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Darden Restaurants
About Darden Restaurants
(
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.
Further Reading
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