MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Raises Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 21.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 509 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Impact Investors Inc purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $286,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:DRI opened at $214.30 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $215.68. The company has a market cap of $25.08 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.10.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.