Insider Selling: Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) SVP Sells $2,047,665.30 in Stock

Key Points

• Darden Restaurants SVP Susan Connelly sold 9,930 shares on July 7 for about $2.05 million, reducing her ownership by 70.45% to 4,165 shares.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings estimates, reporting $3.66 EPS versus the expected $3.63, while revenue rose 13.7% year over year to $3.72 billion.
• Darden also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.62 per share from $1.50, implying an annualized payout of $6.48 and a dividend yield of about 3.2%.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) SVP Susan Connelly sold 9,930 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,864.65. The trade was a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI traded down $3.28 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $201.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,739,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,398,565. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.16. The company has a market capitalization of $23.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $220.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. The firm's 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 57.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $17,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at about $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.7% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,151,000 after buying an additional 2,581 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on DRI shares. Evercore downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 13th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $229.32.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.

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