Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 12,066 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 149,819 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 12,066 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $20,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 794 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust Co lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 2,892 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 14,326 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 3,237 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, March 15th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 12,735 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.02, for a total transaction of $1,974,179.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,488,086.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 2,229 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $345,495.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $826,150. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 12,735 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.02, for a total transaction of $1,974,179.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,488,086.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,611 shares of company stock valued at $14,887,160 over the last 90 days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of DRI opened at $161.41 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.96 and a 12-month high of $163.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $151.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.10. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 45.62%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 7.94 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 10th were given a $1.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 63.19%.

Darden Restaurants Profile

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Darden Restaurants, Inc is a full-service restaurant company, which engages in the provision of restaurant services. It operates through the following segments: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Fine Dining, and Other Business. The Olive Garden segment is the largest full-service dining Italian restaurant operator.