LM Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

LM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,067 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,133,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on DRI. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of DRI stock traded up $1.81 on Monday, reaching $206.94. 484,963 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,272,708. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $194.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $211.00.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.