Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,495 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,121 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $286,552.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $917,448. This trade represents a 23.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.1 %

DRI stock opened at $162.59 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.92. The company has a market capitalization of $19.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on DRI shares. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

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.