Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $196.94 and last traded at $197.90, with a volume of 214588 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $195.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $8,303,692 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $2,802,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,848 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,111 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,514,000 after buying an additional 1,215 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $1,970,000. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 4,624 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

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.