Vista Investment Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 12,745 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Vista Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,745 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,648,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,019,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,199 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 9,624 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned 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 target price of $206.69.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $224.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $26.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $225.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $206.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.83.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants 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.