Capital International Sarl Grows Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Capital International Sarl raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 34.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,796 shares during the quarter. Capital International Sarl’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $642,967,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $75,137,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 184.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 297,938 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $55,622,000 after purchasing an additional 193,134 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,556,000 after purchasing an additional 182,275 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $200.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $196.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.10. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,264 shares of company stock worth $9,058,583 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.