Short Interest in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Increases By 6.7%

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,050,000 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the September 15th total of 5,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days. Currently, 5.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of DRI stock traded up $2.78 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $162.92. 1,127,393 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,240,023. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $157.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.46. 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 firm has a market cap of $19.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 yield of 3.44%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 65.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, 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 transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total value of $201,294.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 10 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,719. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,813,038. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at $72,901,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 696,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $105,345,000 after buying an additional 289,876 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 139.9% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,317,000 after buying an additional 205,450 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 81.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 457,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $69,125,000 after buying an additional 204,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% during the 4th 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. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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 research note on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.25.

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.