The stock of Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE:DRI) increased by $0.41 on Friday to finish at $155.99, up 0.26 percent. The last five days have seen an average of 868,500 shares of common stock traded. 29 times new highs were reached in the current year, with a gain of $17.66. The average number of shares traded over the last 20 days was 1,168,780, while the average volume over the last 50 days totaled 1,190,740.
DRI stock dropped -8.38% since last month. On 08/21/23, the company’s shares reached a one-month low of $154.18. The stock touched a high of $173.06 on 07/21/23, after rallying from a low of $120.20 in 52 weeks. The price of DRI stock has risen by 12.77% or $17.66 this year, reaching a new high 29 times. Still, the stock price is down -9.86% from the 52-week high.
Insider Transactions
DRI stock investors should be aware that Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) stock had its last reported insider trading activity 27 days ago on Aug 01. On Aug 01, Chairman of the Board LEE EUGENE I JR sold 74,741 shares at $166.90 each. This transaction resulted in the insider making $12,474,045. On Jul 31, Vennam Rajesh sold 5,314 shares at a price of US$169.08. After the transaction, the insider now owns 5,958 shares. Chairman of the Board LEE EUGENE I JR had earlier sold 35,446 shares on Jul 24 for $169.85 a share. The transaction was completed for $6,020,361.
Valuation Metrics
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) has a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 19.46. Beta for the stock is 1.23. There are also a few other valuation ratios worth considering, including the trailing price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 1.79, the price-to-book (PB) ratio of 8.58, and the price-to-cash flow ratio of 19.77.
Company paid $1.31 per share in dividends, an increase of 8.26% from $1.21 last year. A $0.10 dividend increase was reported on Thursday June 22 2023.
Financial Health
For the three months ended May 30, Darden Restaurants Inc.’s quick ratio was 0.40, while its current ratio was 0.50, indicating its inability to pay off its debt. The company’s long-term debt to equity ratio for the quarter ending May 30 is 0.93, and the total debt to equity ratio is 0.94. As far as profitability goes, gross margin for the trailing twelve months is 19.90% percent. Darden Restaurants Inc.’s EBITDA margin for the year ended May 30 was 14.92%, whereas its operating margin stood at 11.50% for the same period. Based on annual data, it had gross profit of $2.08 billion and revenue of $10.49 billion.
Investors will also look at the performance of the company’s management in order to determine the potential profitability of their investment. DRI’s return on assets (ROA) during the last 12 months has been 9.70%. There was a 24.90% return on investment (ROI) in the past year. In the meantime, the return on equity (ROE) for the last 12 months was 47.10%.
Earnings Surprise
According to Darden Restaurants Inc.’s quarterly financial report for the quarter that ended May 30. A lower net income was reported in the quarter under review than the previous quarter. Net income for the quarter came in at $2.77 billion, while revenues rose by 6.0% to $2.79 billion. It was predicted that Darden Restaurants Inc.’s quarterly earnings would be $2.58, but it ended up being $2.54, beating the consensus by 1.60%. EBITDA was $471.6 million for the quarter. At the end of Darden Restaurants Inc.’s most recent quarter ended May 30, its liabilities totaled 8.04 billion, while its total debt was $5.97 billion. Equity owned by shareholders amounts to $121.07 million.
Technical Picture
Here’s a quick look at Darden Restaurants Inc.’s (DRI) price momentum from a technical perspective. As of 25 August, the RSI 9-day stood at 28.46%, suggesting the stock is oversold, with a 11.61% historical volatility rate.
The stochastic %K and %D were 14.67% and 14.44% respectively, while the average true range (ATR) was 2.32. Based on the 14-day stochastic reading of 14.95%, the RSI (14) reading is 32.65%. On the 9-day MACD Oscillator, the stock is at -1.66, and the 14-day reading is at -3.52.
Analyst Ratings
In its analyst report released on July 18, 2023, Piper Sandler began covering Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI). The stock was rated as a Neutral by the brokerage firm. Analysts have assigned Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) an Overweight rating. DRI is a stock that is recommended for selling by 0 brokerage firms, while 9 companies recommend holding. The stock is underweighted by 1 analyst. Among the analysts who rate the stock, 3 rates it overweight and 15 others recommend it as a buy.
What is DRI’s price target for the next 12 months?
The current consensus forecast for the stock is between $154.00 and $195.00, with a median target price of $176.50. In analyzing these forecasts, the average price target given by analysts for Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) is $175.17.
