The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $60.99 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 403,030 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 23,886 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.34% of Darden Restaurants worth $60,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $39,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,601.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 69,386 shares of company stock valued at $11,446,091. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $166.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

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.