Cerity Partners LLC Buys 4,864 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 41.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,464 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,864 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $530,121,000 after purchasing an additional 39,189 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $300,446,000 after purchasing an additional 4,454 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $269,117,000 after buying an additional 158,168 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,282,666 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $239,466,000 after acquiring an additional 116,047 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $192,987,000 after acquiring an additional 926,901 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $209.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a PE ratio of 23.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $201.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.21 and a 12-month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the transaction, the insider owned 46,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This represents a 22.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,645.76. The trade was a 98.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on DRI. Wedbush increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.19.

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.