J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,477 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,805 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during 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 in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $198.11 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $228.27. 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 company has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $197.57 and a 200-day moving average of $197.38.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on DRI. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

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.