Invesco Ltd. trimmed its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 29.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,320,535 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 545,475 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.13% of Darden Restaurants worth $274,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of DRI. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $192,987,000 after purchasing an additional 926,901 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $48,919,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $830,666,000 after purchasing an additional 247,542 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 145.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 385,029 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $71,883,000 after purchasing an additional 227,977 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $34,798,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total value of $2,937,010.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 46,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,027,479.15. The trade was a 22.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total transaction of $107,031.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,109,816.95. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.
Darden Restaurants Stock Performance
Shares of DRI stock opened at $205.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.75. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.50 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $212.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $203.88.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The business 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.
Darden Restaurants announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 67.57%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have commented on DRI shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, June 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.19.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Darden Restaurants
Darden Restaurants Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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