Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by Pitcairn Co.

Pitcairn Co. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,837 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 342.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 34,808 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,719,000 after buying an additional 26,945 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $535,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,014 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $547,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.8 %

Darden Restaurants stock traded up $2.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $141.90. The company had a trading volume of 1,352,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,213,606. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $16.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $147.77 and a 200 day moving average of $156.88. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Argus reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.95.

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.