Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 146 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,503 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,669,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $239,148,000 after acquiring an additional 202,139 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth $7,743,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth $220,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.7% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 329,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,155,000 after buying an additional 23,465 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 197,738 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,320,000 after buying an additional 34,478 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock traded up $2.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $142.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,225,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,206,003. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $148.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.15. The company has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.29. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.73%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.