Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,457 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at $628,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 206.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,204,000 after acquiring an additional 33,066 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.2% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 7,393 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 100.2% during the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,039 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 3,523 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at approximately $439,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. This represents a 35.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE DRI opened at $166.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $163.16 and its 200 day moving average is $153.64. The stock has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.59%.

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.