Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 302.7%, owning 1,957 shares valued at approximately $407,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Insider trading activity showed that Darden executives sold a total of 44,047 shares valued at around $9.68 million in the last 90 days.
• Darden Restaurants has initiated a $1.00 billion share repurchase program and recently increased its quarterly dividend from $1.40 to $1.50 per share.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 302.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,957 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 171.4% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 296.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.00, for a total value of $1,514,882.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at $3,132,006. The trade was a 32.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total transaction of $2,653,411.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,645.76. This represents a 98.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $1.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $203.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,158,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,092,358. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $214.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.76. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.10 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.