Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Stake Boosted by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $334,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,562 shares in the company, valued at $2,602,433.26. This represents a 11.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. This represents a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,320 shares of company stock worth $1,366,948. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $184.79 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $166.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.34. The stock has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $188.88.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Stephens lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.44.

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.