CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Boosts Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,019 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $642,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,756 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 21,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,047,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 71,813 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,407,000 after purchasing an additional 10,858 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group increased 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. TD Securities lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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 seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $209.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $196.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.53. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $211.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.03, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,311 shares of company stock worth $13,658,221. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.