Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $188.95 and last traded at $188.66, with a volume of 1179353 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $186.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.44.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $168.43 and a 200 day moving average of $158.06. The stock has a market cap of $22.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,005,911.65. This represents a 35.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,320 shares of company stock worth $1,366,948. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,901,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.9% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,944,000 after acquiring an additional 8,480 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth approximately $777,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,216,000 after purchasing an additional 17,497 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.