Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Acquired by Family Legacy Inc.

Family Legacy Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,442 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the quarter. Family Legacy Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,367,000 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 acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased 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 acquiring an additional 4,543 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.5 %

DRI stock opened at $204.89 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $194.62 and its 200 day moving average is $178.62. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00. The stock has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. 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 (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.08.

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.