Stonebrook Private Inc. Sells 8,545 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Stonebrook Private Inc. lessened its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 63.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 8,545 shares during the quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $200.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $197.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.88.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.