Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.52 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 437.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 8,262 shares (an additional 6,726 shares) valued at about $1.52 million.
• Institutional ownership is very high at 93.64%; notable activity includes JPMorgan raising its holding to 2,666,919 shares (≈$507.7 million) after adding 1,171,890 shares.
• Analysts are broadly positive—18 Buys vs. 9 Holds with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $226.24—and Darden recently reported a quarter of $2.95 EPS (beating estimates) and declared a $1.50 quarterly dividend (annualized $6.00, ~3.0% yield).

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 437.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,262 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 6,726 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 98.5% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 64,118 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $12,206,000 after acquiring an additional 31,815 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 164.1% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $928,000 after acquiring an additional 3,027 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $2,536,000. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $6,743,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the third 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 during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $226.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, 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 transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This trade represents 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 Trading Up 1.4%

DRI stock opened at $202.44 on Friday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $202.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.12. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $23.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

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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