Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 1,840 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,335 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,840 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 204.0% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 4,236 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $153,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 110.9% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 23,581 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after buying an additional 12,400 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 11,949 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,231,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 7,913 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $190.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a PE ratio of 21.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $201.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.91.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants 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.