QV Investors Inc. Increases Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

QV Investors Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 64.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,190 shares during the quarter. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $9,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during 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 last quarter. apricus wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.5% during the third quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,681 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the third quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,556,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on DRI. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $196.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $205.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $193.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Darden Restaurants Profile

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.