Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Insider John Wilkerson Sells 8,864 Shares of Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) insider John Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $1,846,637.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,794 shares in the company, valued at $3,915,354.02. This represents a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.4%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $213.80 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $204.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.12. The company has a market capitalization of $24.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $220.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 62.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings cut Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 926.7% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Union Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.