Baldwin Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Baldwin Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,028 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Baldwin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $530,121,000 after acquiring an additional 39,189 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $300,446,000 after acquiring an additional 4,454 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $269,117,000 after purchasing an additional 158,168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. TD Securities raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $203.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $197.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.07.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.