Boston Partners Has $123.38 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 660,875 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 43,934 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned approximately 0.56% of Darden Restaurants worth $123,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $772,635,000 after buying an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $241,121,000 after buying an additional 772,907 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on DRI. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.00.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.2 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $188.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $203.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.