Hilton Capital Management LLC Purchases 574 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Hilton Capital Management LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the period. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $160.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $163.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total value of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. This represents a 35.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

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.