Versor Investments LP Has $472,000 Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Versor Investments LP lessened its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 20.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,875 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 723 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $628,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $78,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 206.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,204,000 after purchasing an additional 33,066 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,859 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 7,184 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on DRI. BTIG Research increased 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. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $168.69 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The company has a market capitalization of $19.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $162.98 and a 200-day moving average of $153.56.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,719. This represents a 99.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.