Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,713 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 134,098 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after buying an additional 169,642 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 13.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,669,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $239,148,000 after buying an additional 202,139 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $233,075,000 after buying an additional 6,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,399,697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $200,465,000 after acquiring an additional 57,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.24.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $153.09 on Wednesday. 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 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The company has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $150.67 and a 200-day moving average of $159.53.

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

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.37%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.50%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

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

About Darden Restaurants

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.