Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys 4,247 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 37.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,591 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,247 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 20th. Stephens increased 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 upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.24.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.2%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $203.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.10. The company has a market cap of $23.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.61. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Darden Restaurants 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.