Bangor Savings Bank Has $49,000 Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 395.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $49,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total value of $201,294.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,719. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,719. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,813,038. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.25.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $159.13 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. 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 50-day simple moving average of $156.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.66. The company has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. 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.