Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Purchased by SageView Advisory Group LLC

SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 35.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 854 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Union Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, BTIG Research raised Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, May 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,599 shares of company stock worth $2,197,891 in the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $152.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.