1,332 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Acquired by Enterprise Financial Services Corp

Enterprise Financial Services Corp acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,332 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.0% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,274 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Union Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.7% during the third quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.0% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 65.1% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on 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 owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,270,034.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,599 shares of company stock valued at $2,197,891. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DRI. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Stephens began coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.67.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded down $1.06 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $147.65. The stock had a trading volume of 210,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,167,287. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84.

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

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

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.