Hickory Point Bank & Trust Invests $470,000 in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,520 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE DRI opened at $200.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $23.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $201.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $190.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.70.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. 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 2.79%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.