Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Simmons Bank

Simmons Bank lowered its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,390 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 410 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $260,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 17,439 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,862,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.4% during 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 during the period. HM Payson & Co. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 10,703 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.3% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 141,917 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $23,293,000 after acquiring an additional 8,423 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $194.02 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $189.78 and its 200-day moving average is $171.93. The company has a market cap of $22.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $201.94.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

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.