Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Acquired by Cibc World Market Inc.

Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 198.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,036 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 28,613 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DRI. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $198.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $197.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.38. The company has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.88.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.