Everstar Asset Management LLC Takes $973,000 Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Everstar Asset Management opened a new position in Darden Restaurants, buying 5,286 shares valued at about $973,000 in the fourth quarter.
• Darden’s latest earnings beat expectations slightly, with EPS of $2.95 versus $2.94 expected and revenue of $3.35 billion, up 5.9% year over year.
• Wall Street remains constructive on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $226.24; Darden also recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share.

Everstar Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,286 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $973,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,556,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust co increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DRI. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Darden Restaurants from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $196.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business's 50 day moving average is $198.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.08. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the business's 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 owned 274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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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