Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 11.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,202,711 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 234,410 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $368,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $361,000. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,111 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,526,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 3,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1,244.9% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 86,920 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,531,000 after purchasing an additional 80,457 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total transaction of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total transaction of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at $3,124,959.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,430 shares of company stock worth $3,313,120 over the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of DRI traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $156.10. The company had a trading volume of 886,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,153,157. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.23. The stock has a market cap of $18.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.85.

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.