Ricardo Cardenas Sells 39,134 Shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total value of $8,181,354.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. The trade was a 31.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI traded down $5.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $207.09. The company had a trading volume of 1,636,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,402,352. The company has a market capitalization of $23.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.15. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $220.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Evercore lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.88.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.