Summit Trail Advisors LLC Buys 611 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 42.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 611 shares during the quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $172.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $151.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 65.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.28.

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.