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

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

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI traded down $0.03 on Wednesday, reaching $170.74. 85,917 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,214,216. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.41. 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 $20.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $177.67.

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). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. This represents a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $981,488.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.9% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,944,000 after purchasing an additional 8,480 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 16.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 42,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,398,000 after acquiring an additional 5,945 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $777,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 523.9% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 194,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,995,000 after buying an additional 163,693 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.