Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Buys 4,105 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,971 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 4,105 shares during the quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. owned about 0.09% of Darden Restaurants worth $17,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 206.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,204,000 after purchasing an additional 33,066 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 136,364 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $21,158,000 after acquiring an additional 7,184 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 134,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,451,000 after acquiring an additional 6,151 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 16.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 42,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,398,000 after acquiring an additional 5,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 103,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,248,000 after acquiring an additional 4,526 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,719. This represents a 99.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $168.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 134,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,214,198. The firm has a market cap of $19.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $162.98 and a 200-day moving average of $153.56. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

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.