Matthew R. Broad Sells 4,707 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the business’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 transaction of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $156.98. The company had a trading volume of 374,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,139,979. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The company has a 50 day moving average of $164.68 and a 200-day moving average of $159.10. The firm has a market cap of $18.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by ($0.01). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 61.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.85.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,698 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 644 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 83.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,887 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 21,127 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 6,811 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.