HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,448 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,579 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth approximately $682,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $409,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 93.8% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after purchasing an additional 5,756 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after purchasing an additional 123,900 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $192.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $203.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.