SPC Financial Inc. Trims Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

SPC Financial Inc. lowered its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 7.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,867 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 226 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. American International Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 35,430 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,821,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $838,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 28.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 917 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $151,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on DRI. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen 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 $179.25.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,706 shares of company stock worth $12,813,038 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $164.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $158.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

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.