Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $33.73 Million Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 162,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 7,902 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of Darden Restaurants worth $33,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,001,000 after buying an additional 13,074 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,164,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677 shares in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $286,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,882 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 164,342 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,681,000 after purchasing an additional 32,273 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.60.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total transaction of $1,059,598.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,602 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,835.56. This represents a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This trade represents a 22.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock traded down $1.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $215.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,087,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,348,359. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $200.17. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.24 billion, a PE ratio of 24.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.06%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.