Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Boosts Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,788 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $6,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.36.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $192.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.