Foundry Partners LLC Acquires 23,287 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 37.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 23,287 shares during the quarter. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $12,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Union Savings Bank grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 227 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DRI. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Argus decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.7 %

DRI stock traded up $1.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $159.00. The company had a trading volume of 103,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,214,496. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $147.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.11. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The stock has a market cap of $18.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.73%.

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.