Saxon Interests Inc. Increases Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Saxon Interests Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,327 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,766,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% during the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 1,640 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, United Community Bank increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.3% during the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 5,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $989,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.25.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock traded down $0.82 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $158.31. 171,398 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,239,623. The firm has a market cap of $18.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $156.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.66.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. 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 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,706 shares of company stock worth $12,813,038. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.