Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC Acquires 158 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after acquiring an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,959,000 after acquiring an additional 375,292 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 139.9% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,317,000 after acquiring an additional 205,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 81.2% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 457,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $69,125,000 after purchasing an additional 204,832 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $167.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.13. The stock has a market cap of $19.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $176.84.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. 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 3.34%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.59%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.13.

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.