Prospector Partners LLC Grows Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Prospector Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 31.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,019 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 20,741 shares during the period. Darden Restaurants accounts for about 1.8% of Prospector Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Prospector Partners LLC owned about 0.07% of Darden Restaurants worth $16,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DRI. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $772,635,000 after purchasing an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $530,121,000 after acquiring an additional 39,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,046,774 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $195,422,000 after acquiring an additional 102,888 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" 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 given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,047 shares of company stock worth $11,947,346. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock traded up $3.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $195.38. The company had a trading volume of 359,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,283,545. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $196.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.86. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $211.00. The company has a market capitalization of $22.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

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.