700 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Acquired by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $131,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,635,000 after buying an additional 26,601 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after acquiring an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $199.92 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $192.08 and its 200 day moving average is $176.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $203.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.36.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.