Portfolio Design Labs LLC Raises Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 157.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,204 shares during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MCF Advisors LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,760,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $194.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $201.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $183.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Stephens lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

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.