Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,188 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Savings Bank purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 980.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 93.5% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 240 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 3,836 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.80, for a total value of $628,336.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,971 shares in the company, valued at $1,141,849.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 3,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.80, for a total transaction of $628,336.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,971 shares in the company, valued at $1,141,849.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI traded up $0.45 during trading on Thursday, hitting $167.42. 654,534 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,121,949. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $19.99 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $167.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share 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 previous year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.43%.

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.