Mather Group LLC. Acquires 272 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 29.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,194 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $17,202,000. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,973,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 968,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $159,047,000 after purchasing an additional 65,223 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $191.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.95.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3 %

DRI stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $143.95. The company had a trading volume of 487,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,225,552. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $146.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.90. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $17.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.29.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 65.73%.

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.