Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Buys New Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,453 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 223.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,549,545 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $214,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,472 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,573,384 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $217,646,000 after purchasing an additional 532,340 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,899,291 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,380,814,000 after purchasing an additional 455,588 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 55.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,168,604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $167,359,000 after purchasing an additional 418,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,572,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $209,110,000 after purchasing an additional 394,786 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DRI. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $154.06 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The company has a 50 day moving average of $166.35 and a 200 day moving average of $158.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $18.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by ($0.01). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total transaction of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,723 shares of company stock worth $2,578,122. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.