Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,476 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 617 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $167.70 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $176.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI raised Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

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.