Harbour Wealth Management Group Inc. Invests $458,000 in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Harbour Wealth Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,487 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 45.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,841 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,019,000 after acquiring an additional 6,791 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 42,689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,510,000 after purchasing an additional 9,332 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $376,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 58,873 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,834,000 after purchasing an additional 6,067 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

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

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $213.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $199.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $199.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.56.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.