Bank of New York Mellon Corp Buys 43,794 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,004,851 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 43,794 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $184,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on DRI. Citigroup increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Barclays raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America raised 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.88.

Insider Activity

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

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $198.11 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $197.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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 $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.49%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.