Junto Capital Management LP Takes $48.92 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 262,033 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $48,919,000. Junto Capital Management LP owned about 0.22% of Darden Restaurants at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI traded up $2.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $207.13. 172,802 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,283,788. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $24.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.95. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

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.