Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Raises Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 31.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,160 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 3,160 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $642,967,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,919,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 145.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 385,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $71,883,000 after acquiring an additional 227,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 184.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 297,938 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $55,622,000 after acquiring an additional 193,134 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE DRI opened at $207.03 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $211.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $200.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $24.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.