Ricardo Cardenas Sells 20,518 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.2 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $207.90 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $211.00. The firm has a market cap of $24.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $194.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $48,919,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $40,048,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 145.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 385,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $71,883,000 after purchasing an additional 227,977 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.08.

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.