Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires New Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,289 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $195,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,986,000 after acquiring an additional 8,619 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 968,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $159,047,000 after purchasing an additional 65,223 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $3,901,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 206.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,204,000 after buying an additional 33,066 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE DRI opened at $158.25 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $147.01 and a 200-day moving average of $154.04. The company has a market cap of $19.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.29.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on DRI. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, May 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.