Family Legacy Inc. Boosts Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Family Legacy Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,442 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the quarter. Family Legacy Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,760,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.5 %

DRI opened at $204.89 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $211.00. The company has a market capitalization of $24.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $194.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.62. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on DRI. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.08.

About Darden Restaurants

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.