Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Holdings Raised by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 164,342 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 32,273 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $30,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,311 shares of company stock valued at $13,658,221. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $204.89 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $194.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.