J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Has $79.98 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. by 1.5% during the first quarter, owning approximately 384,939 shares valued at around $79.98 million.
• Darden recently declared a $1.50 quarterly dividend, marking an increase from the previous $1.40, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.9%.
• The company announced a stock buyback program allowing for the repurchase of up to $1 billion in shares, suggesting confidence in undervaluation by the company's leadership.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG trimmed its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 384,939 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 5,733 shares during the period. Darden Restaurants accounts for about 1.4% of J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG owned approximately 0.33% of Darden Restaurants worth $79,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,882 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 4,585 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $530,121,000 after buying an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,233 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,164,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI traded up $1.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $203.52. 1,158,409 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,150,280. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $140.10 and a one year high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.75. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $214.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $203.07. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. 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. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 67.57%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,645.76. This trade represents a 98.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,835.56. This represents a 50.71% 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 worth $10,022,232. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Melius assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.19.

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.