Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Stock Position Raised by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 97.4%, now owning 74,856 shares valued at approximately $15.5 million.
• Darden Restaurants reported earnings of $2.98 per share, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.50 per share.
• Analysts have raised Darden's price targets significantly, with Barclays setting a new target at $255.00 and others suggesting an average price target of $225.19.

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 97.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,856 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 36,935 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.06% of Darden Restaurants worth $15,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 3,677 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,376,000 after acquiring an additional 5,119 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,728,000 after acquiring an additional 7,902 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 924 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $192,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $540,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $205.18 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $143.91 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The stock's 50-day moving average is $211.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $23.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Barclays raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.19.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.00, for a total value of $1,514,882.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,132,006. The trade was a 32.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total value of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 46,327 shares in the company, valued at $10,027,479.15. The trade was a 22.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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.

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