Fiduciary Financial Group LLC Invests $313,000 in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Fiduciary Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 1,737 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.4% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $182.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $189.18.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

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.