Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Holdings Raised by XTX Topco Ltd

XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 446.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,182 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 5,868 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,766,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% during the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 1,640 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. United Community Bank raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.3% in the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 5,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $989,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 2,051 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI upgraded Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.28.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $170.17 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $150.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.