Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Acquired by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 37.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,591 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,247 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $358,000. Associated Banc Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $797,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $203.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $197.80 and a 200 day moving average of $196.10.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 13th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

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.