Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Position Raised by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 21,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $700,210,000 after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 17,497 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,046,774 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $195,422,000 after purchasing an additional 102,888 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $208.05 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $195.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.83, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on DRI shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares in the company, 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 have sold 70,311 shares of company stock worth $13,658,221 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.