Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) is Running Oak Capital LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Running Oak Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 81,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,996 shares during the quarter. Darden Restaurants accounts for approximately 2.0% of Running Oak Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Running Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $16,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.35.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $226.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $208.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.39. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The company has a market capitalization of $26.46 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 50.68%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.