Insider Selling: Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Sells 3,320 Shares of Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at $1,005,911.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock traded down $2.05 on Wednesday, hitting $162.07. 360,932 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,242,439. The company’s fifty day moving average is $154.28 and its 200 day moving average is $152.96. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The company has a market capitalization of $19.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

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 analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M&R Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth about $219,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,216,000. Farmers National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.3% during the second quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,515 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth approximately $1,856,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 71,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,862,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DRI. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.25.

About Darden Restaurants

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.