Crews Bank & Trust Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $75,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,404 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,087,000 after buying an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,408 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 71,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,862,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $4,216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $8,303,692 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $195.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $196.80. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $180.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $165.22.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target for the company. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

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.