Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB lessened its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 67,699 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 10,359 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $12,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,556,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Trust co boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. AGP Franklin LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. AGP Franklin LLC now owns 13,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,467 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the sale, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Stephens lifted 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. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $196.28 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.77. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week 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 company has a market cap of $22.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 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 for 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 for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were paid 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%.

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.