IFP Advisors Inc Trims Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

IFP Advisors Inc decreased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 47.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,156 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,750 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $196.31 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Melius Research upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Eighteen equities research 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 a consensus price target of $226.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,165,474.24. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last 90 days. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.