First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Raises Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 31.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,848 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,274 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Wambolt & Associates LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.7% in the third quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 13,705 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,963,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 65.1% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $149.25 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $17.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.88. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by ($0.01). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at $2,848,268.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,599 shares of company stock worth $2,197,891 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.85% 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.