Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by SPC Financial Inc.

SPC Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,949 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the quarter. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 11.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,875 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $205,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 64,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,557,000 after buying an additional 1,031 shares during the period. Finally, Marks Group Wealth Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 51,851 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,510,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $194.86 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.78. The stock has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $203.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on DRI. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.