Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,093 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 602 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10,491.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 127,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $19,233,000 after buying an additional 125,900 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $172,811,000 after purchasing an additional 132,643 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 696,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $105,345,000 after purchasing an additional 289,876 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,905 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DRI. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.28.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

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

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE DRI opened at $172.74 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $151.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.18. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $20.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

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.