Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Purchases 1,899 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,283 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Impact Investors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $67,001,000 after purchasing an additional 13,074 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during 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. Finally, QV Investors Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,505 shares of company stock worth $6,667,929. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DRI. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $197.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.13%.

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.