KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes $7.56 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 40,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $7,561,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DRI. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,760,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 9,624 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,797,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % 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 worth $13,658,221 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded down $3.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $204.89. 798,208 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,275,775. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $194.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $211.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.