Cetera Investment Advisers Purchases 6,758 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers has increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.1%, owning a total of 51,410 shares worth approximately $10.68 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Darden Restaurants recently declared a quarterly dividend increase to $1.50 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.95%.
• The company has approved a $1 billion share repurchase program, indicating its leadership believes the stock is undervalued.

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 15.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,410 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 6,758 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $10,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $192,987,000 after buying an additional 926,901 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,919,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 145.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 385,029 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $71,883,000 after purchasing an additional 227,977 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 184.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 297,938 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $55,622,000 after purchasing an additional 193,134 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, June 13th. Stephens increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total transaction of $1,284,431.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. The trade was a 55.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares in the company, valued at $32,645.76. The trade was a 98.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $0.79 during trading on Monday, hitting $204.28. 542,078 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,353,106. The stock has a market cap of $23.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.75. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.10 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $214.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.