Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $193.12 and last traded at $192.66, with a volume of 74527 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $187.61.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wedbush increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.52.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.9 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $177.44 and its 200-day moving average is $163.70. The stock has a market cap of $22.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $8,303,692 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.