Mizuho Securities USA LLC Lowers Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.8% during the first quarter, holding 9,380 shares valued at approximately $1.95 million.
• Darden Restaurants reported $2.98 EPS for the recent quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenues reaching $3.27 billion, a 10.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company approved a $1 billion share buyback program, indicating that its board believes shares may be undervalued.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lessened its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 15.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,380 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,756 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.8% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,688 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.5% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.1% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total value of $1,284,431.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,012,212.10. This trade represents a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total value of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI traded up $1.99 on Wednesday, hitting $207.12. 997,583 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,056,330. The business's fifty day moving average is $212.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $203.90. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.50 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32, a PEG ratio of 1.89 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 (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 approved a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 67.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.19.

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.