Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Short Interest Update

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,400,000 shares, a decrease of 16.0% from the April 30th total of 6,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 4.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 9,006 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,871,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth $18,906,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 10,138 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,106,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 27,196 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,650,000 after buying an additional 3,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 22,444 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,663,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on DRI. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Darden Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. TD Securities upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $1.54 during trading on Thursday, reaching $214.71. 835,348 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,322,409. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.13 billion, a PE ratio of 24.59, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75. 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 has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $218.22. The company's 50 day moving average is $202.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.80.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.

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.