5 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy in 2022

3. Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Dividend Yield as of July 21: 3.97%

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) is an American multi-brand restaurant company that operates in over 1800 locations across the country. In July, BofA named DRI as one of the most resilient restaurant stocks as recession risks rise. The firm raised its price target on the stock to $145 with a Buy rating on the shares.

In fiscal Q4 2022, Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) paid $563 million in dividends to shareholders, up from $202.6 million paid during the same period last year. In FY22, the company generated $1.3 billion of cash from operations. Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) suspended its dividends during the pandemic of 2020 but raised its quarterly payouts four times since then. It currently pays a dividend of $1.21 per share every quarter, with a yield of 3.97%, as of the close of July 21.

At the end of Q1 2022, 32 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey presented a bullish stance on Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI), up from 30 in the previous quarter. These hedge funds held a total stake worth $241.8 million in the Florida-based restaurant company. Ken Griffin and Ray Dalio were the company’s most prominent shareholders in Q1.