Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,489 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 1,186 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 171.4% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 296.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on DRI. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Ten 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $224.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE DRI traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $219.35. 1,314,513 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,349,183. The company has a market cap of $25.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $211.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.72. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.06%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,835.56. This represents a 50.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at $3,132,006. This trade represents a 32.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.