Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Director Sells $192,857.99 in Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of DRI traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $158.30. The company had a trading volume of 927,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,153,112. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $167.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $158.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by ($0.01). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.85.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,373,923 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,911,012,000 after purchasing an additional 362,658 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,899,291 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,380,814,000 after purchasing an additional 455,588 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,576,948 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $369,070,000 after purchasing an additional 52,864 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,561,379 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $396,532,000 after purchasing an additional 54,085 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,290,224 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $328,006,000 after acquiring an additional 200,342 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.