Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Makes New $40.05 Million Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

28 Nov 2024, 13:54 by Kim Johansen · The Markets Daily

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Free Report) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 244,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $40,048,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $777,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 240,488 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $39,471,000 after buying an additional 37,128 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $130,000. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 58,326 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,573,000 after buying an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 689.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 55,363 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,087,000 after buying an additional 48,349 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $175.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $177.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last issued 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). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $1.40 per share. 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. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total value of $542,587.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,005,911.65. This trade represents a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,057,743.30. This represents a 19.23 % 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 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.13.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on DRI

Darden Restaurants Profile

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