OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Has $929,000 Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 835 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,019,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $211.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.22, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $199.11 and a 200 day moving average of $187.94. 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 fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.82.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.