SteelPeak Wealth LLC Sells 3,558 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

SteelPeak Wealth LLC lessened its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 24.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,234 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,558 shares during the quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth $26,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 228 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. The trade was a 13.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on DRI. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $207.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.0%

DRI opened at $196.35 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $205.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The firm has a market cap of $22.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.49%.

Darden Restaurants 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.