Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 1,415 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,788 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 1,415 shares during the quarter. 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 institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,760,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 9,624 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,797,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $207.37. 941,742 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,241,847. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.29 billion, a PE ratio of 23.75, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company's 50 day moving average is $193.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.56. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $210.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

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. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,698 shares of company stock worth $8,536,729 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DRI. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.08.

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.