Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 4th, 2023

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 73,246 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.06% of Darden Restaurants as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 260 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 159.0% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 259 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 43.3% in the first quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Friday, June 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $172.00 to $187.00 in a report on Monday, June 19th. Credit Suisse Group upped 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $152.00 to $165.00 in a report on Friday, June 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, Chairman Eugene I. Lee, Jr. sold 31,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.29, for a total value of $5,100,107.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 199,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,034,918.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Chairman Eugene I. Lee, Jr. sold 31,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.29, for a total transaction of $5,100,107.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 199,856 shares in the company, valued at $32,034,918.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel J. Kiernan sold 12,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.09, for a total value of $2,086,572.51. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,648,538.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,663 shares of company stock worth $9,149,913 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $167.45 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.53. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $111.78 and a 1 year high of $168.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $20.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.24.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 22nd. The restaurant operator reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 47.22%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.24 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 10th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.21. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 7th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 60.50%.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

(Free Report)

Darden Restaurants, Inc, through 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 brands.