FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,111 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,968,301 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $323,392,000 after acquiring an additional 134,098 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after acquiring an additional 169,642 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,669,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $239,148,000 after acquiring an additional 202,139 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $233,075,000 after acquiring an additional 6,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 55.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,168,604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $167,359,000 after acquiring an additional 418,860 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.24.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.4 %

DRI traded down $0.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $144.77. 23,747 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,187,147. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $133.36 and a 12-month high of $176.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.29.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 61.50%.

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.