SVB Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 1,223 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,223 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 65.1% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 324.2% in the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 280 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total transaction of $1,115,229.06. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,270,034.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at $2,848,268.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,723 shares of company stock valued at $2,578,122 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stephens started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.9 %

DRI opened at $155.91 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.