Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Purchased by National Bank of Canada FI

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 38.6% during Q1, now owning approximately 76,758 shares valued at about $15.9 million.
• Darden Restaurants announced a $1 billion share buyback program, indicating the company's belief that its shares are currently undervalued.
• The company declared an increased quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, reflecting a boost from the previous dividend and representing a 3.0% yield.

National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 38.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,758 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 21,359 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.07% of Darden Restaurants worth $15,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,688 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $766,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.5% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.1% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total transaction of $1,284,431.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. The trade was a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232 over the last 90 days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DRI. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $201.51 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $23.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $212.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $203.87. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.50 and a 52 week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS 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 posted $2.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.

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