Tectonic Advisors LLC Acquires 284 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 33,066 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 499.8% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 13,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 11,270 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 136,364 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $21,158,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 134,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $22,451,000 after buying an additional 6,151 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 42,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,398,000 after buying an additional 5,945 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on DRI. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total value of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,206 shares of company stock worth $12,460,313 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $159.92 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $160.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.60. The company has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced 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 net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

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.