Truist Financial Corp Sells 2,272 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 73,846 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,272 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $12,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.0% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,274 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.7% during the third quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 13,705 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.0% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 65.1% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,599 shares of company stock valued at $2,197,891 in the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on DRI. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Stephens started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $151.15 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $133.36 and a 12-month high of $176.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $164.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.82.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 61.43%.

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.