Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Decreases Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 62,332 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $12,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,019,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,199 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $597,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 9,624 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE:DRI opened at $217.45 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $209.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on DRI. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.60.

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.