Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 60.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 73,469 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 111,629 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Darden Restaurants worth $15,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 9,072 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 896.1% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 17,421 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,619,000 after purchasing an additional 15,672 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 445.7% in the 1st quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,354 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 6,823 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 102.4% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430 shares during the period. Finally, Copperwynd Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 5,419 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, 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 value 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 approximately $1,029,835.56. This trade represents a 50.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total transaction of $160,160.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,139,189.50. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Stephens upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI traded up $2.79 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $209.60. 754,603 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,338,485. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $214.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.56. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $138.21 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.74. 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 (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

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.