Concord Investment Counsel Inc. Makes New $4.01 Million Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Concord Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 23,990 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $4,010,000. Darden Restaurants makes up approximately 1.4% of Concord Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $17,202,000. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,973,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after buying an additional 8,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 968,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $159,047,000 after buying an additional 65,223 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Bank of America increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.95.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.5 %

Darden Restaurants stock traded up $2.16 on Friday, hitting $142.12. 350,177 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,199,419. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The firm has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $158.15.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given 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 presently 65.73%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.