U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $2.03 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 12,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,026,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.0% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,274 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.7% in the third quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 13,705 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.0% in the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock traded up $1.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $149.25. 1,864,340 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,238,608. The firm has a market cap of $17.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.75. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.85.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at $993,717.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,994,800.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,599 shares of company stock worth $2,197,891. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.