Integrity Alliance LLC. Has $11.01 Million Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Integrity Alliance LLC. massively increased its stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter, boosting holdings by 2,139.4% to 59,837 shares worth about $11.0 million.
• Darden reported a strong recent quarter, with EPS of $2.95 and revenue of $3.35 billion, both slightly ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue rose 5.9% year over year.
• Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $226.24. Darden also pays a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, equal to a 2.9% yield.

Integrity Alliance LLC. grew its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 2,139.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,837 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 57,165 shares during the period. Integrity Alliance LLC. owned approximately 0.05% of Darden Restaurants worth $11,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,824,996,000 after buying an additional 236,620 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,587,939,000 after acquiring an additional 43,965 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $849,726,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,211 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $507,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,904,022 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $362,848,000 after acquiring an additional 19,819 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $203.87 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $197.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on DRI. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 20th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $226.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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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