Consolidated Planning Corp Purchases Shares of 19,042 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Consolidated Planning Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 19,042 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $3,129,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $17,202,000. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $1,038,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 197,738 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,320,000 after buying an additional 34,478 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DRI. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wedbush reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.85.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,270,034.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,270,034.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at $2,994,800.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $3,313,120. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of DRI traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $156.10. 886,615 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,153,157. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.23. The firm has a market cap of $18.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.