SteelPeak Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 12,577 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

SteelPeak Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 12,577 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,613,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DRI. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,645.76. This trade represents a 98.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total value 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 $1,012,212.10. This represents a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on DRI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Robert W. Baird upped 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. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $224.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.7%

Darden Restaurants stock traded down $3.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $209.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,470,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,344,128. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $213.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.63. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $138.21 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.57, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.74.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.57%.

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.