Willis Investment Counsel Acquires 9,800 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Willis Investment Counsel grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 92,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $17,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $772,635,000 after acquiring an additional 26,601 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after acquiring an additional 123,900 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $386,133,000 after acquiring an additional 44,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wedbush lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock opened at $195.44 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $22.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $180.46 and a 200-day moving average of $165.48. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $196.80.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 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.