Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) saw a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,670,000 shares, a decline of 10.3% from the August 31st total of 6,320,000 shares. Approximately 4.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,310,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Argus decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,386 shares of company stock worth $11,446,091. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,216,000. Farmers National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,515 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,856,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 71,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,862,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $1.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $166.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,447,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,990. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $153.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.22.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 65.73%.

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.