Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Purchased by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 68.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 161,426 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 65,321 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $29,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $2,404,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 23,473 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,319,000 after buying an additional 5,830 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,675,000 after buying an additional 1,171,890 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $6,743,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 177.3% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,547 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,388,000 after buying an additional 8,022 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $196.16 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. 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 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.49%.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen 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, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.88.

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.