Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) SVP Lindsay Koren Sells 300 Shares

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Lindsay Koren sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.5%

NYSE:DRI traded up $4.77 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $195.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,265,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,526,877. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 424,673 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $78,274,000 after acquiring an additional 14,156 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 45,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,285,000 after acquiring an additional 2,385 shares during the period. Winthrop Partners WNY LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,795,000. Finally, Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Melius Research upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

About Darden Restaurants

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.