Golden State Wealth Management LLC Raises Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 129.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,882 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 926,901 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,919,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 145.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 385,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $71,883,000 after purchasing an additional 227,977 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $215.87 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $25.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.75. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $228.27.

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

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.06%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total value of $1,284,431.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. This represents a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,835.56. This represents a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,463 shares of company stock valued at $4,997,442. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Stephens boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.60.

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.