Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Short Interest Update

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,810,000 shares, an increase of 5.7% from the October 31st total of 6,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.5 days. Currently, 5.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. This trade represents a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI traded down $1.00 on Tuesday, hitting $171.00. 296,818 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,216,223. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.29. The firm has a market cap of $20.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $177.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

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.