OneAscent Financial Services LLC Acquires Shares of 1,396 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,396 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $75,137,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,556,000 after purchasing an additional 182,275 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 922,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $171,288,000 after buying an additional 121,015 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value 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 represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $192.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $211.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $196.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.90. The firm has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DRI. Bank of America boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.08.

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.