159,392 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Purchased by Clear Trail Advisors LLC

Clear Trail Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 159,392 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $29,331,000. Darden Restaurants makes up 6.8% of Clear Trail Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Clear Trail Advisors LLC owned 0.14% of Darden Restaurants as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,824,996,000 after buying an additional 236,620 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,071,746,000 after acquiring an additional 100,270 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 32.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $849,726,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,211 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,073,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $887,988,000 after acquiring an additional 75,701 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 3.3%

NYSE:DRI opened at $196.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $22.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.49%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $207.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. 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 company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants 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.