Ellsworth Advisors LLC Takes $6.18 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 33,087 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $6,177,000. Darden Restaurants accounts for 1.6% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,635,000 after purchasing an additional 26,601 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $587,638,000 after buying an additional 123,900 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $386,133,000 after buying an additional 44,464 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DRI. Barclays boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.12.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $181.58 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $175.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $162.20. The firm has a market cap of $21.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $189.18.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,275 shares of company stock valued at $5,913,038 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.