Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Increases Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 842 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,949,000. SPC Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 2,949 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.8% during the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 810 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $416,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $195.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $190.99 and a 200 day moving average of $174.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.