Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Purchases 28,463 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 898,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 28,463 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $165,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 196 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.2%

DRI stock opened at $209.00 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $198.79 and its 200 day moving average is $198.93. The stock has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Barclays raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Stephens lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.16.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.