Darden Restaurants, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.40 (NYSE:DRI)

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of 1.40 per share by the restaurant operator on Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th.

Darden Restaurants has raised its dividend payment by an average of 9.7% annually over the last three years. Darden Restaurants has a payout ratio of 48.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Darden Restaurants to earn $10.64 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.6%.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 4.5 %

Darden Restaurants stock traded up $8.91 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $208.84. 2,129,622 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,246,964. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $210.31. The company has a market cap of $24.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $192.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.21.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.08.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,698 shares of company stock worth $8,536,729. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.