Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Acquired by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group slightly raised its stake in Darden by 0.3% to 14,063,355 shares (a 12.21% holding) valued at about $2.59 billion, and overall institutional investors own roughly 93.6% of the company.
• Darden declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share (annualized $6.00) with an ex-dividend date of April 10 and a yield of about 3.1%, payable May 1.
• The company modestly beat expectations for the quarter with $2.95 EPS vs. $2.94 est. and $3.35 billion in revenue, and analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $226.24 price target after several firms raised targets.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 43,965 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.21% of Darden Restaurants worth $2,587,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 98.5% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 64,118 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $12,206,000 after acquiring an additional 31,815 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 164.1% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 3,027 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth about $2,536,000. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth about $6,743,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $507,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,890 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.1%

DRI stock opened at $196.54 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $201.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.51 billion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.64. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and set a $207.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $226.24.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden's restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand's positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.

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