Haverford Trust Co Makes New $219,000 Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Haverford Trust Co purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,173 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 45,698 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,729. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $207.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $210.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.56.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 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 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.