1620 Investment Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,016 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Impact Investors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’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. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target 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. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.33.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 5.6 %

NYSE DRI opened at $198.66 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.47. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.31. The firm has a market cap of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

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.