Sheets Smith Wealth Management Boosts Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,445 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Impact Investors Inc bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $405,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 13,074 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $286,000. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $221.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.67.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 63.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on DRI shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.27.

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.