Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Has $903,000 Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,403 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 65.1% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on DRI shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen 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 an average price target of $170.95.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $0.31 on Tuesday, reaching $146.44. 72,619 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,207,424. The company has a fifty day moving average of $147.24 and a 200-day moving average of $156.46. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $133.36 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The company has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 65.73%.

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.