Advisory Alpha LLC Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Advisory Alpha LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 27.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 28,655 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,336,000 after acquiring an additional 6,258 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,797 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,693,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 11,767 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,781,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 63.4% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 129,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $19,828,000 after buying an additional 21,465 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $186.22 on Friday. 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 $189.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.06. The company has a market cap of $21.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. This represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $8,303,692. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants 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.