Synergy Investment Management LLC Makes New $416,000 Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 2.5 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $195.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.40, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.12. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $190.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.28.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm 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%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. 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.