Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Boosts Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 86.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,819 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 4,101 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,081,000. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 824.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,741 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $6,687,000 after buying an additional 36,334 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,293 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $24,832,000 after acquiring an additional 5,816 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,994 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $325,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded down $3.56 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $196.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 254,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,280,553. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $196.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.10. The company has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,505 shares of company stock worth $6,667,929. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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.