Capital World Investors Buys 322,079 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,161,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 322,079 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned approximately 0.13% of Darden Restaurants worth $2,790,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $198.11 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $197.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.38. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $22.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results 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. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm 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 company earned $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.88.

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.