Sei Investments Co. Raises Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 514,392 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,786 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $96,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5 %

DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $192.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 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 $203.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.36.

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.