Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Insider Laura Williamson Sells 1,110 Shares of Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) insider Laura Williamson sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.32, for a total transaction of $226,795.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,197,257.28. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.0%

Darden Restaurants stock traded down $2.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $204.15. 363,914 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,394,217. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $203.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $220.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.43%.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Evercore downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.88.

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.