Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Invests $649,000 in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 4,289 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $649,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DRI. Union Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,766,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 1,640 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, United Community Bank grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.3% during the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 5,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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 note on Friday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $158.12 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $18.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $146.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.21.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.73%.

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.