Belpointe Asset Management LLC Has $1.61 Million Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Belpointe Asset Management increased its stake in Darden by 193.3% in Q4, owning 8,771 shares valued at about $1.61 million after acquiring an additional 5,781 shares.
• Darden declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share (annualized $6.00), implying a ~3.0% yield; the ex-dividend date is April 10 and the payment date is May 1.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with 18 Buy and 9 Hold ratings, a consensus target price of $226.24 and an overall rating of "Moderate Buy."

Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 193.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,771 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 5,781 shares during the quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,151,000 after buying an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,964,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Darden Restaurants from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock opened at $196.97 on Wednesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $203.32 and its 200-day moving average is $194.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.64. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden's restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand's positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.

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