Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Acquired by Groupama Asset Managment

Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 21,498 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,711 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $530,121,000 after purchasing an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Family Legacy Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 7,442 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,367,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 4,585 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,882 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,405,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 164,342 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,681,000 after acquiring an additional 32,273 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. Stephens upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $209.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.32.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.