Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Short Interest Up 8.3% in March

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,890,000 shares, a growth of 8.3% from the March 15th total of 5,440,000 shares. Approximately 5.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,150,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock traded up $0.08 on Wednesday, reaching $154.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,066,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,399,875. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50-day moving average is $166.11 and its 200 day moving average is $158.66. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 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 the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,723 shares of company stock valued at $2,578,122 in the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 223.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,549,545 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $214,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,472 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,573,384 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $217,646,000 after acquiring an additional 532,340 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,899,291 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,380,814,000 after acquiring an additional 455,588 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 55.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,168,604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $167,359,000 after acquiring an additional 418,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 33.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,572,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $209,110,000 after purchasing an additional 394,786 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.