Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,949 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 1,018 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth $621,000. CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.2% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 9,099 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, QV Investors Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 151.6% during the 3rd quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 84,122 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,807,000 after purchasing an additional 50,690 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $195.19 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $183.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.87 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $201.94.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.