Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC Grows Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 10.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,797 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the period. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI traded down $2.19 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $167.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 294,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,216,060. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.26. The company has a market cap of $19.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on DRI. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given 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 an average target price of $180.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total value of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 in the last 90 days. Corporate 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.