Banco Santander S.A. Invests $830,000 in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,444 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $830,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on DRI. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price 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, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI traded up $0.81 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $190.20. 1,244,943 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,155,084. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $203.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.13. The company has a market cap of $22.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

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.