Fortis Capital Advisors LLC Takes $1.01 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Fortis Capital Advisors opened a new stake in Darden by buying 5,473 shares (~$1.01 million) in Q4; institutional investors now own about 93.64% of the stock.
• Darden reported quarterly EPS of $2.95 (vs. $2.94 est.) and revenue of $3.35 billion, up 5.9% year-over-year, and analysts forecast roughly $9.52 EPS for the current year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 (annual $6.00) for a ~3.0% yield; Darden trades at a ~21.3 P/E with a market cap near $23.0 billion and a consensus "Moderate Buy" target of ~$226.24.

Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,473 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,007,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 13,848 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,548,000 after buying an additional 1,266 shares in the last quarter. Pekao Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $445,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,693 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,704,000 after buying an additional 3,708 shares in the last quarter. Adelphi Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $221,000. Finally, Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 26,605 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,896,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $201.12 on Monday. 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's 50-day moving average is $203.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.94. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a market capitalization of $23.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Mizuho raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $226.24.

About Darden Restaurants

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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