Peddock Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 103 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,342 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the quarter. Darden Restaurants accounts for about 0.8% of Peddock Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $486,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 10.7% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 13,070 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 591,359 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $89,485,000 after purchasing an additional 35,919 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,905 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397 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 have commented on DRI shares. Barclays upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.12.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.5 %

DRI traded up $2.79 during trading on Monday, hitting $182.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,091,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,189,240. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $189.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $21.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. 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 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.