Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $700,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $192.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $190.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 2.15 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 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $203.12.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

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.