RWA Wealth Partners LLC Makes New $328,000 Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,995 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 65.1% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 324.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 280 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,124,959.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,723 shares of company stock valued at $2,578,122 in the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.1 %

DRI opened at $156.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.