440 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Acquired by Truvestments Capital LLC

Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 440 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $72,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $587,638,000 after purchasing an additional 123,900 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $386,133,000 after buying an additional 44,464 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.2% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $240,832,000 after buying an additional 18,899 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after buying an additional 772,907 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. This represents a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $173.84 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $164.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.43. The company has a market capitalization of $20.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $177.58.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.59%.

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.