Harbour Investments Inc. Boosts Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,928 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew 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 worth $8,204,000 after purchasing an additional 33,066 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.2% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 7,393 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 100.2% in the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,039 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 3,523 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $439,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter worth about $203,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $166.78 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $163.16 and a 200 day moving average of $153.64. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.59%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. This trade represents a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on DRI. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.