Norinchukin Bank The Raises Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Norinchukin Bank The raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,170 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 336 shares during the quarter. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,760,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,505 shares of company stock worth $6,667,929 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Stephens lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $197.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $196.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.