Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,990 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $413,000.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.0% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 15,744 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,627 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at $217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $178.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.92.
View Our Latest Stock Report on DRI
Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.4%
Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $0.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $217.04. The company had a trading volume of 1,329,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,392. The stock has a market cap of $25.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.93. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $220.79.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.
Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 63.13%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.
Darden Restaurants Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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