Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Shares Gap Up Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $159.14, but opened at $173.51. Darden Restaurants shares last traded at $169.20, with a volume of 635,457 shares changing hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.2 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $150.34 and its 200-day moving average is $153.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $20.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,216,000. Farmers National Bank grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,515 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,856,000. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 71,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,862,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 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.