Willis Investment Counsel Purchases 11,900 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Willis Investment Counsel raised its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 104,700 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 11,900 shares during the quarter. Darden Restaurants comprises about 1.5% of Willis Investment Counsel's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Willis Investment Counsel owned approximately 0.09% of Darden Restaurants worth $21,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 296.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 555.3% during the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 308 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $217.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,329,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,859. 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 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $220.79. The company has a market cap of $25.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $205.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.22.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.92.

About Darden Restaurants

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.