Board of the Pension Protection Fund Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,900 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $915,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 312 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. BTIG Research raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $189.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants 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 transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,275 shares of company stock worth $5,913,038 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DRI traded down $0.98 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $181.06. The company had a trading volume of 880,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,159,217. 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 company has a market capitalization of $21.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $175.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.47. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $189.18.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 64.15%.

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.