Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 22.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,632 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,005 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 296.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Stephens increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Darden Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, June 13th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.19.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total transaction of $160,160.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,139,189.50. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total value of $1,284,431.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,012,212.10. This represents a 55.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $209.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a PE ratio of 23.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $138.21 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $214.38 and a 200-day moving average of $201.35.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants 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.