Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Stock Holdings Boosted by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Darden by 116.4% in Q4, adding 6,262 shares to hold 11,641 shares valued at about $2.14 million.
• Two senior VPs sold stock recently (Lindsay Koren sold 300 shares at $194.32; Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares at $202.16), and insiders now own just 0.49% of the company.
• Wall Street is moderately bullish—consensus rating "Moderate Buy" with a $226.24 target—while Darden posted a slight EPS beat ($2.95 vs. $2.94), revenue +5.9% YoY, a market cap ≈ $22.5B, and a $6.00 annual dividend (3.1% yield).

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 116.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,641 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 6,262 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,143,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $17,438,000 after acquiring an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the second 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 period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 15.7% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on DRI. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $196.16 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $200.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.72.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio 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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