Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Purchased by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 441,415 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,276 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.37% of Darden Restaurants worth $66,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 529,405 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $80,110,000 after purchasing an additional 26,025 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.3% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 23,087 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,494,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 27.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 28,655 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,336,000 after buying an additional 6,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,561 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, 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 value of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $170.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.52. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. 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 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.28.

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.