Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,875 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Caas Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $476,000. Cigna Investments Inc. New bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth $200,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 141,917 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $23,293,000 after purchasing an additional 8,423 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE DRI opened at $168.44 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $162.16 and its 200-day moving average is $153.20. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $176.84. The firm has a market cap of $19.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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 was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.13.

About Darden Restaurants

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.