Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Purchased by QV Investors Inc.

QV Investors Inc. grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 64.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 53,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,190 shares during the quarter. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $9,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 98.5% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 64,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,206,000 after buying an additional 31,815 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 164.1% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $928,000 after acquiring an additional 3,027 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,536,000. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $6,743,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $2,816,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.0%

DRI opened at $196.35 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $205.51 and its 200-day moving average is $193.55. The company has a market capitalization of $22.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,787,992. This trade represents a 11.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at $9,165,474.24. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.