United Community Bank Increases Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

United Community Bank increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 221.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,803 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 12,260 shares during the period. Darden Restaurants makes up 1.3% of United Community Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. United Community Bank's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,760,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

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

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.4 %

DRI stock traded up $2.75 on Friday, reaching $195.06. 1,151,526 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,138,578. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $203.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.48.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders 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 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 64.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.52.

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.