Vista Investment Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Vista Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 12,745 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,648,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 296.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 3.3%

DRI opened at $224.63 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $206.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $225.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on DRI. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.69.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V's Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.

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