Buck Wealth Strategies LLC Buys Shares of 4,941 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,941 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,027,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 296.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $219.27.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock traded down $4.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $221.27. 2,725,450 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,332,026. The company has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $208.33 and a 200 day moving average of $196.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $228.27. 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 (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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.