Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.
Darden Restaurants Stock Performance
Shares of DRI opened at $207.37 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $193.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $210.47. The firm has a market cap of $24.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 63.13%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
DRI has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.08.
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Darden Restaurants Company Profile
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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.
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