Natixis Boosts Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 12th, 2023

Natixis boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) by 67.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,448 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,814 shares during the quarter. Natixis’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Seeyond lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Seeyond now owns 6,128 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 28,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,912,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 730,382 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $101,034,000 after buying an additional 8,081 shares during the period. Finally, Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 18,794 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,825 shares in the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $1.80 on Monday, reaching $163.71. 264,403 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,269,943. The company has a fifty day moving average of $154.88 and a 200-day moving average of $149.26. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $110.96 and a twelve month high of $164.98. The company has a market capitalization of $19.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 45.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 7.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 10th were paid a $1.21 dividend. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 6th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Wedbush boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 1st. Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $157.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $150.00 to $160.00 in a report on Friday, March 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, March 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 12,735 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 28th. The shares were 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 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 accessible through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 2,229 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $826,150. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 12,735 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.02, for a total transaction 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 approximately $7,488,086.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,611 shares of company stock worth $14,887,160 over the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by 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.