First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 35,894 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 33.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 143,947 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,894 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $26,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $365,000. Capital International Sarl grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 10,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after acquiring an additional 2,796 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 108,825 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $20,299,000 after acquiring an additional 8,154 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,394,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 21,238 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,965,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,505 shares of company stock valued at $6,667,929 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $199.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $196.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.13%.

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.