Yousif Capital Management LLC Purchases 837 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,160 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,274 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 13,705 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,963,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.0% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.3 %

DRI opened at $156.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.85.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Darden Restaurants news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at $993,717.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total transaction of $1,115,229.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,430 shares of company stock valued at $3,313,120. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.