Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.
Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 3,237 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $150,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 17,090 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,272,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 776,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $103,176,000 after acquiring an additional 113,548 shares during the last quarter. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
DRI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $157.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $145.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Bank of America upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 24th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.23.
Darden Restaurants Stock Performance
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 45.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 7.94 earnings per share for the current year.
Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 63.19%.
Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants
In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 2,229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $345,495.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $826,150. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Eugene I. Lee, Jr. sold 78,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $12,147,539.88. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 199,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,763,834.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 2,229 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $345,495.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $826,150. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 101,611 shares of company stock worth $15,627,110 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.
About Darden Restaurants
Darden Restaurants, Inc is a full-service restaurant company, which engages in the provision of restaurant services. It operates through the following segments: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Fine Dining, and Other Business. The Olive Garden segment is the largest full-service dining Italian restaurant operator.
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