US Bancorp DE Boosts Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 4,543 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned 0.13% of Darden Restaurants worth $27,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 2.5 %

DRI stock traded down $4.92 on Monday, hitting $195.54. 1,578,584 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,147,256. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The business's fifty day moving average is $190.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.28. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $203.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DRI shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants 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.