Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) SVP Susan M. Connelly Sells 4,735 Shares

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,835.56. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:DRI traded down $1.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $216.21. The company had a trading volume of 531,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,332,060. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.75. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The company's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on DRI. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $224.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $830,666,000 after buying an additional 247,542 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $748,215,000 after acquiring an additional 157,305 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $530,121,000 after purchasing an additional 39,189 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $300,446,000 after purchasing an additional 4,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $269,117,000 after purchasing an additional 158,168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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