Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Grows Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,134 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 5,090 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Darden Restaurants worth $39,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $195.54 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $22.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Activity

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

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.