Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 10,313 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Concurrent Investment Advisors increased its stake in Darden by 313.9%, buying 10,313 shares to hold 13,598 shares worth $2.50 million at quarter-end.
• Analysts are broadly positive—18 Buys vs. 9 Holds—with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $226.24.
• Darden slightly beat quarterly EPS estimates ($2.95 vs. $2.94) with revenue up 5.9% year-over-year, and it announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 ($6.00 annual, ~3.1% yield).

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 313.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,598 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 10,313 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $717,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. AGP Franklin LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. AGP Franklin LLC now owns 13,137 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 45,944 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $8,455,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 437.9% during the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,262 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 6,726 shares during the period. Finally, Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS now owns 17,887 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,292,000 after purchasing an additional 2,512 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $226.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $196.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.64. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $201.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.43.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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