IFP Advisors Inc Sells 3,750 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

IFP Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,156 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,750 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. MAI Capital Management boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. apricus wealth LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Embree Financial Group raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,681 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,597 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $784,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $196.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $22.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $207.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.37.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $849,761.28. This represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 over the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.