Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 12,822 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,664,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,448 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,257,000 after buying an additional 1,579 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $411,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 34,788 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $6,495,000 after buying an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 93,490 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,454,000 after buying an additional 10,940 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 18,534 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,460,000 after buying an additional 2,387 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.00, for a total value of $1,514,882.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,132,006. The trade was a 32.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,714 shares of company stock worth $9,609,494 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $2.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $209.45. 1,052,164 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,342,504. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.21 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $214.15 and a 200 day moving average of $201.19.

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

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. 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. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 67.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on DRI shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.19.

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.