Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 20.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,757 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 21.0% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,448 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,330 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.9% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,615 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 74,065 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $12,156,000 after acquiring an additional 3,041 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 8.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $821,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 121.1% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,903 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,685 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,206.56. This trade represents a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Darden Restaurants Trading Down 4.8 %
Shares of DRI traded down $10.08 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $199.49. The company had a trading volume of 718,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,221,525. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $211.00. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.53. The stock has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a PE ratio of 22.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRI. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.08.
Read Our Latest Research Report on DRI
About Darden Restaurants
(
Free Report)
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.
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