Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases 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% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 162,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 7,902 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.14% of Darden Restaurants worth $33,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. First Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at $208,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,796 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 298.8% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 47,657 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $9,901,000 after purchasing an additional 35,708 shares during the last quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,475 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DRI. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $224.60.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total transaction of $2,653,411.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,645.76. The trade was a 98.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total transaction of $1,284,431.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. This trade represents a 55.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 43,714 shares of company stock worth $9,609,494. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE DRI traded down $0.45 on Thursday, reaching $213.88. The company had a trading volume of 491,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,345,101. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.74. The company's fifty day moving average is $213.15 and its 200 day moving average is $200.28. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The business's revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.57%.

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

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.