JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with about 2.9 million shares valued at roughly $537 million.
• Darden reported quarterly earnings of $2.95 per share, edging past estimates, while revenue of $3.35 billion also slightly beat expectations and rose 5.9% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 2.9%, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $226.88.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,918,165 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 251,246 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 2.53% of Darden Restaurants worth $537,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $2,404,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 23,473 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,319,000 after acquiring an additional 5,830 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,743,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 177.3% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,547 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,388,000 after purchasing an additional 8,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 61,922 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $11,395,000 after purchasing an additional 5,348 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $204.23 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $197.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $198.20. The company has a market capitalization of $23.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DRI. KeyCorp upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 13th. Barclays raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $226.88.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden's restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand's positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.

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