64,059 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Acquired by Hantz Financial Services Inc.

Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 64,059 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $9,693,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at $72,901,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $58,601,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $297,244,000 after purchasing an additional 169,642 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 311.1% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 207,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,628,000 after purchasing an additional 156,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $349,268,000 after purchasing an additional 105,433 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $158.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $146.82 and a 200-day moving average of $154.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BTIG Research raised Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.50.

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.