Stephens Inc. AR Purchases 5,624 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,701 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 5,624 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR owned approximately 0.05% of Darden Restaurants worth $12,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 108.8% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $209.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $213.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $200.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $138.21 and a one year high of $228.27.

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

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 2.87%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 67.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the business'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 transaction of $1,059,598.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,029,835.56. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares in the company, valued at $32,645.76. This trade represents a 98.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $224.60.

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.

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