5,874 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Bought by USA Financial Formulas

USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 5,874 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,220,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Impact Investors Inc bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $405,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $67,001,000 after purchasing an additional 13,074 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $286,000. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.6%

DRI stock opened at $216.17 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $220.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $203.52 and its 200 day moving average is $193.47. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on DRI. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued 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 target price of $201.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86% decrease in their position. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.