Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 6,726 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 437.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,262 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,726 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.4%

DRI opened at $202.44 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.