New York State Teachers Retirement System Raises Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 12th, 2023

New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 161,902 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,373 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.13% of Darden Restaurants worth $22,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Glenview Trust Co boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.7% in the third quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 2,892 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 14,326 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,982,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 3,237 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.5% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,848 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $739,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 17,127 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,369,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $153.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $18.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.96 and a 12-month high of $155.90.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.10. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 45.62% and a net margin of 9.19%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 7.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be paid a $1.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.19%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 12,735 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.02, for a total value of $1,974,179.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,488,086.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 12,735 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.02, for a total value of $1,974,179.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,488,086.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Eugene I. Lee, Jr. sold 78,916 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $12,147,539.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 199,856 shares in the company, valued at $30,763,834.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 101,611 shares of company stock valued at $15,627,110. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 24th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $145.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.23.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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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.