Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Purchased by HHM Wealth Advisors LLC

HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 103.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $47,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Willis Investment Counsel increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 92,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,325,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 11,638 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 2,704 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,242 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,653 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.8 %

DRI opened at $198.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $199.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $180.93 and its 200 day moving average is $165.88.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

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.