GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 2,477 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 124.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,471 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 2,477 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at about $413,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 78.0% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 15,744 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,627 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,835.56. This trade represents a 50.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,555 shares in the company, valued at $1,012,212.10. This represents a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,463 shares of company stock worth $4,997,442 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on DRI shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.60.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $215.87 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $25.26 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.75. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company's 50 day moving average is $210.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.07.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 63.06%.

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.

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