Huntington National Bank Sells 1,682 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Huntington National Bank decreased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 21.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,682 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $72,901,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,959,000 after purchasing an additional 375,292 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 71.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 696,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $105,345,000 after acquiring an additional 289,876 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 139.9% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,317,000 after purchasing an additional 205,450 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 81.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 457,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,125,000 after acquiring an additional 204,832 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. This represents a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total value of $201,294.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,719. This trade represents a 99.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $166.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $163.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.64. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.59%.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with 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 brand names.