QV Investors Inc. Acquires 50,690 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

QV Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 151.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 84,122 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 50,690 shares during the quarter. QV Investors Inc. owned about 0.07% of Darden Restaurants worth $13,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $72,901,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 71.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 696,176 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $105,345,000 after acquiring an additional 289,876 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 139.9% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $53,317,000 after purchasing an additional 205,450 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 81.2% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 457,114 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $69,125,000 after purchasing an additional 204,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $297,244,000 after purchasing an additional 169,642 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $179.25.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of DRI stock traded up $2.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $162.92. 1,127,393 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,240,023. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.46. The firm has a market cap of $19.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 65.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The trade was a 0.00 % 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, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,706 shares of company stock worth $12,813,038. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

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.