Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.29

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 20th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of 1.29 per share by the restaurant operator on Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%.

Darden Restaurants has increased its dividend by an average of 62.3% per year over the last three years. Darden Restaurants has a dividend payout ratio of 49.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Darden Restaurants to earn $9.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.0%.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $151.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.29. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $150.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $167.00 price objective (down previously from $175.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.81.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,270,034.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,599 shares of company stock valued at $2,197,891 in the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.