Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 43,965 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Darden Restaurants worth $2,587,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on DRI. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Mizuho raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $196.54 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $201.97 and a 200-day moving average of $194.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.64. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 63.49%.

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.