Banco Santander S.A. Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,444 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $830,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $195.06 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $190.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.48. The company has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.