First City Capital Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,250 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

First City Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,250 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $164.45 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $176.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $163.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company’s 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, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on DRI. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. This represents a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants 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.