Alps Advisors Inc. Buys 22,294 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 137,655 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,294 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $25,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DRI. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.7% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of DRI opened at $210.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $198.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.46. The firm has a market cap of $24.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.88.

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.