Farmers National Bank has $532,000 stock position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Farmers National Bank increased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Free Report) by 8.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,515 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the quarter. Farmers National Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have recently modified their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Incinalta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $31,000. 93.64% of shares are currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Price performance of Darden restaurants

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $164.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.28 and a two hundred day simple moving average of $152.96. 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 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. In the same period last year, the business posted EPS of $1.78. Analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Raises Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’ previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a dividend of $5.60 on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10. Darden Restaurants’ dividend payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Insider buying and selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available via this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,386 shares of company stock worth $11,780,551. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s shares.

Analyst upgrades and downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on DRI. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a note research on Thursday, July 11. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. The company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.25, according to MarketBeat.com.

Check out our latest report on Darden restaurants

Darden restaurant profile

(Free Report)

Darden Restaurants, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under the brands 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.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds DRI owns? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trading for Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Free Report).

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