Bank of Nova Scotia Buys 2,053 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,858 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,053 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 220.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,535,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $214,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056,265 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,757,686 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $727,311,000 after purchasing an additional 763,728 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,572,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $209,110,000 after buying an additional 394,786 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,373,923 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,911,012,000 after buying an additional 362,658 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 151.9% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 593,130 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $74,924,000 after buying an additional 357,659 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $161.41 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $151.78 and a 200 day moving average of $147.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $110.96 and a 1-year high of $163.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 45.62% and a net margin of 9.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 7.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Friday, March 24th. Credit Suisse Group raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $157.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 24th. TD Cowen reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $148.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 2,229 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $345,495.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $826,150. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 12,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.02, for a total transaction of $1,974,179.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,488,086.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 2,229 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $345,495.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $826,150. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,611 shares of company stock valued at $14,887,160 over the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

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Darden Restaurants, Inc is a full-service restaurant company, which engages in the provision of restaurant services. It operates through the following segments: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Fine Dining, and Other Business. The Olive Garden segment is the largest full-service dining Italian restaurant operator.