Lion Street Advisors LLC Has $3.76 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Lion Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 69 shares during the quarter. Darden Restaurants comprises approximately 1.2% of Lion Street Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Lion Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Czech National Bank increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 24,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,961,000 after buying an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 3,844 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 107.9% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 60,674 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,098,000 after buying an additional 31,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 4,327 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $199.74 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $23.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $200.90.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last ninety days. 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.