Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Hits New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $188.82 and last traded at $185.67, with a volume of 897627 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $159.87.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 64.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Darden Restaurants from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $180.46.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $166.25 and a 200-day moving average of $156.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $21.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. This represents a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.