Forsta AP Fonden Sells 3,400 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants by 11.8% in Q1, selling 3,400 shares, leaving it with 25,300 shares valued at approximately $5.26 million.
• Darden Restaurants has approved a $1 billion share buyback program, allowing it to repurchase up to 3.8% of its shares, indicating confidence in the stock's valuation.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.50 per share, marking an annualized dividend of $6.00 and a yield of 3.0%, up from the previous $1.40 per share.

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,300 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 3,400 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,688 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.5% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.1% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded down $0.82 during trading on Thursday, hitting $206.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 740,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,331,522. The stock has a market cap of $24.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.75. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.82 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $212.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This represents a 22.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,029,835.56. This represents a 50.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232 over the last three months. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.19.

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.