Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 28.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,572 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 926.7% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings raised Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.32.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $193.54 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.38. The company has a market cap of $22.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for 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%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’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 transaction of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.