Creative Planning Boosts Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 11th, 2023

Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Free Report) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,764 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted 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 buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 63.4% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 237 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 42.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 240 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.03, for a total value of $175,572.57. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10 shares in the company, valued at $1,440.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,219 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.03, for a total transaction of $175,572.57. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10 shares in the company, valued at $1,440.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Eugene I. Lee, Jr. sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.09, for a total value of $5,612,970.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 157,957 shares in the company, valued at $26,866,906.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 194,486 shares of company stock worth $32,669,040 over the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $152.00 to $165.00 in a report on Friday, June 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $183.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 22nd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.14.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.8 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $138.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.17 and a fifty-two week high of $173.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $151.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.88.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 21st. The restaurant operator reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.05. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 47.87% and a net margin of 9.13%. The company had revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be given a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 6th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.26%.

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.