Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. by 38.2%, bringing its share count down to 6,568 shares valued at approximately $1.37 million as per its recent SEC filing.
• Darden Restaurants reported a quarterly EPS of $2.98, slightly beating analysts' expectations, alongside a 10.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $3.27 billion.
• The company has authorized a $1 billion stock buyback program, indicating management's belief that its stock may be undervalued, while insiders have recently sold significant amounts of stock.

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 38.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,568 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 4,067 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 296.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. 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 stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $0.79 on Monday, hitting $204.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 542,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,353,106. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.10 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The company has a market capitalization of $23.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $214.00 and a 200-day moving average of $203.07.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase 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.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the 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 $1,029,835.56. This represents a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 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 have sold a total of 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

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.