First City Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

First City Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,250 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 354,300 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $58,151,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third 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. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 23.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 157,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,801,000 after buying an additional 30,300 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 107,971 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,721,000 after acquiring an additional 4,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 25.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,495 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after buying an additional 2,121 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $286,552.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,448. This represents a 23.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE DRI opened at $164.45 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $163.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.77. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly 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). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 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.