S.A. Mason LLC Grows Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

S.A. Mason LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 27.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the quarter. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Union Savings Bank bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 980.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 93.5% during the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 240 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 3,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.80, for a total value of $628,336.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,141,849.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 3,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.80, for a total transaction of $628,336.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,141,849.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on DRI. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, December 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $166.97 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.26. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $133.36 and a 12-month high of $176.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $167.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

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.