Allworth Financial LP Boosts Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,866 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $718,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.3% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.0 %

DRI stock opened at $194.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $187.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $201.94.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

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.