Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,267 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $646,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $72,901,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $58,601,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 71.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 696,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $105,345,000 after purchasing an additional 289,876 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 81.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 457,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $69,125,000 after buying an additional 204,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $297,244,000 after buying an additional 169,642 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.5 %

DRI opened at $172.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $151.48 and a 200-day moving average of $153.18. The company has a market capitalization of $20.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week 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.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business 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. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given 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 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 currently 65.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, 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 the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.