Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Position Increased by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 84.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,578 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 3,021 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,556,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust co lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. AGP Franklin LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. AGP Franklin LLC now owns 13,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,467 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.1%

DRI stock opened at $195.96 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $22.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $199.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.88.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants 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.