Aberdeen Group plc Has $15.51 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Aberdeen Group plc increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 97.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 74,856 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,935 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $15,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,835.56. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,027,479.15. This trade represents a 22.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. KeyCorp lifted 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, June 23rd. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $205.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $211.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.75. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $143.91 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The business’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 company posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.57%.

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.