Stonebridge Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 558 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $104,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,760,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3 %

DRI opened at $194.75 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $184.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $201.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

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.