Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Position Boosted by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 19.6%, now holding a total of 111,819 shares valued at approximately $23.23 million.
• Darden Restaurants recently reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, along with a revenue of $3.27 billion, marking a 10.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company's board approved a $1 billion share buyback plan, indicating confidence in the company's valuation, alongside a raised quarterly dividend from $1.40 to $1.50 per share.

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 19.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 111,819 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 18,329 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Darden Restaurants worth $23,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the 1st 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 lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.9%

DRI traded up $1.85 on Friday, reaching $203.52. 1,158,409 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,150,280. 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 twelve month low of $140.10 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company's 50 day moving average is $214.00 and its 200-day moving average is $203.07. The company has a market cap of $23.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 14,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,139,189.50. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total value of $1,284,431.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares in the company, valued at $1,012,212.10. This trade represents a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on DRI. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.19.

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.