Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 93,490 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,940 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $17,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $188.07 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $191.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.07. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $203.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.00.

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.