Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Decreases Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI trimmed its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,328 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $642,967,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,048,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,556,000 after purchasing an additional 182,275 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $190.20 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $22.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $203.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.13.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The company 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%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

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.