Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $4.37 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $17,202,000. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,038,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 197,738 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,320,000 after acquiring an additional 34,478 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $152.49 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $165.23 and its 200-day moving average is $158.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 61.43%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,723 shares of company stock valued at $2,578,122 in the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRI. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.85.

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.