Raymond James & Associates Increases Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,202,711 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 234,410 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 1.85% of Darden Restaurants worth $368,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $17,202,000. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,038,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 21.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 197,738 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,320,000 after purchasing an additional 34,478 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at $3,124,959.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total transaction of $1,115,229.06. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,994,800.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $3,313,120 over the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $156.10. 886,615 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,153,157. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $18.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.