SG Americas Securities LLC Has $12.69 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1,163.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,977 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,519 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Darden Restaurants worth $12,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 98.5% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 64,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,206,000 after purchasing an additional 31,815 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 164.1% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 3,027 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,536,000. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,743,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,816,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. The trade was a 13.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. This represents a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last quarter. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $192.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $206.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.49%.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.