Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by Hilton Capital Management LLC

Hilton Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the period. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,719. This represents a 99.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of DRI opened at $160.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $163.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.86.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

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.