DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Increases Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 327,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,489 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.28% of Darden Restaurants worth $66,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,024 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $421,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 9,352 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after buying an additional 749 shares during the period. Fullcircle Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Centennial Bank AR purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.00, for a total transaction of $1,514,882.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at $3,132,006. This trade represents a 32.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,835.56. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,714 shares of company stock worth $9,609,494 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:DRI opened at $217.59 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $212.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $200.17. The company has a market capitalization of $25.46 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.74. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.