Eastern Bank Sells 3,121 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Key Points

• Eastern Bank reduced its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. by 34.0%, resulting in ownership of 6,068 shares valued at approximately $1.26 million after selling 3,121 shares in the first quarter.
• Insider transactions revealed that both SVP Susan M. Connelly and CFO Rajesh Vennam sold significant shares, reducing their ownership by over 50% post-sale.
• Darden Restaurants announced a $1 billion share buyback plan, indicating management believes its shares to be undervalued, alongside a dividend increase to $1.50 per share from $1.40.

Eastern Bank lowered its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 34.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,068 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,121 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 83,951 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $15,673,000 after purchasing an additional 13,682 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $75,137,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 71,813 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $13,407,000 after acquiring an additional 10,858 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 17,019 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,029,835.56. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total value of $107,031.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,109,816.95. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock traded up $1.11 during trading on Monday, hitting $204.60. The company had a trading volume of 599,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,353,226. 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 fifty day moving average price of $214.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.07. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.10 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 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, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on DRI. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants 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.