Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Has $7.84 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,746 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 1,983 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 171.4% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 boosted 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, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Ten investment 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $224.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $3.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $209.33. The stock had a trading volume of 1,470,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,344,599. The company has a market capitalization of $24.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.21 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $213.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $200.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share 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 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 was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change 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 (DPR) is presently 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total transaction of $2,653,411.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,645.76. This trade represents a 98.78% decrease in their position. The sale 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 Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 22.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,714 shares of company stock worth $9,609,494 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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.