Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,891 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $540,000.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,305 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,257 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,019,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 390,672 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $72,935,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,819 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,646,000 after buying an additional 4,101 shares during the period. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 20,283 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,787,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.
View Our Latest Analysis on Darden Restaurants
Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.6 %
Darden Restaurants stock traded down $1.22 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $202.67. The company had a trading volume of 934,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,270,063. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $197.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.21. The firm has a market cap of $23.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 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 was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.
Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants
In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
About Darden Restaurants
(
Free Report)
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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