Amalgamated Bank Has $4.58 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 19.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,243 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,884 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $252,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,601,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 62.6% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,255 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,117 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 854 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.2 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $170.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 65.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on DRI. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.28.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% 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.