Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Short Interest Down 10.3% in September

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) was the target of a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,670,000 shares, a decline of 10.3% from the August 31st total of 6,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,310,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days. Approximately 4.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $334,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,602,433.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $334,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,602,433.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,386 shares of company stock valued at $11,780,551 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $349,268,000 after buying an additional 105,433 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after buying an additional 169,642 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $240,832,000 after buying an additional 18,899 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $233,075,000 after buying an additional 6,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $172,811,000 after acquiring an additional 132,643 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE DRI traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $164.14. 1,345,150 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,247,102. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $133.36 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day moving average is $154.28 and its 200-day moving average is $152.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.25.

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.