IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 5.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,210 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 809 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,211,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,189,048,000 after buying an additional 487,366 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4,601.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,464,253 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $959,215,000 after buying an additional 11,220,403 shares in the last quarter. American International Group Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.3% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 6,198,698 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $518,645,000 after buying an additional 77,248 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.0% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,734,166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $312,519,000 after buying an additional 110,515 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 38.3% in the first quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,229,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $270,196,000 after buying an additional 894,403 shares during the period. 95.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) traded down 0.17% during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $83.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,658,214 shares. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09 and a beta of 0.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $60.16 and a one year high of $95.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $86.34 and a 200-day moving average of $83.54.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 27th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 6.68% and a return on equity of 26.18%. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post $4.47 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 10th were issued a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 6th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.14%.
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A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BidaskClub raised Darden Restaurants from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James Financial, Inc. reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. Bank of America Corporation lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, June 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.78.
In related news, insider Eugene I. Lee, Jr. sold 93,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.58, for a total value of $8,528,387.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 165,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,116,377.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.
About Darden Restaurants
Darden Restaurants, Inc is a full-service restaurant company. The Company owned and operated 1,536 restaurants through its subsidiaries in the United States and Canada, as of May 29, 2016. The Company’s segments include Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Fine Dining (which includes The Capital Grille, and Eddie V’s Prime Seafood and Wildfish Seafood Grille (Eddie V’s)) and Other Business (which includes Yard House, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, consumer-packaged goods and franchise revenues).
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