Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Lowers Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. decreased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 98.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 91,018 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 3,237 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 25.1% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $150,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 17,090 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,272,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 776,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $103,176,000 after acquiring an additional 113,548 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,124,959.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,723 shares of company stock valued at $2,578,122 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $152.97 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.62. The firm has a market cap of $18.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.