Greenleaf Trust Boosts Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,761 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 20.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 46.6% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,698 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares during the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.9% in the third quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 23,411 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,310 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6.7% in the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,125 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 100.9% in the third quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,280 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DRI. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,723 shares of company stock worth $2,578,122. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $154.55 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $18.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $165.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.