TD Asset Management Inc Has $26.17 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 142,217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,486 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $26,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,438,000 after buying an additional 2,553 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on DRI. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Stephens lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.88.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $198.11 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $197.57 and a 200-day moving average of $197.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.