Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Beacon Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Beacon Investment Advisors LLC cut its Darden Restaurants position by 52.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 11,346 shares and leaving it with 10,360 shares valued at about $1.9 million.
• Darden reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.95 versus $2.94 expected and revenue of $3.35 billion versus $3.33 billion, while revenue rose 5.9% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock, with 18 Buy ratings and 9 Hold ratings, and a consensus price target of $227.16 versus the recent trading price around $209.30.

Beacon Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 52.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,360 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 11,346 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DRI. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.7% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,151,000 after buying an additional 2,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,964,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $209.30 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average is $199.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $199.14. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $23.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The business's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

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

Darden Restaurants 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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