Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Buys New Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,984 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $370,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI traded up $1.15 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $205.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,843,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,288,031. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.00. The firm has a market cap of $23.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $197.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.82.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Darden Restaurants 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.