Unigestion Holding SA Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,900 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $541,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $772,635,000 after acquiring an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $530,121,000 after purchasing an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,046,774 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $195,422,000 after buying an additional 102,888 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,047 shares of company stock worth $11,947,346 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $192.28 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $196.47 and a 200-day moving average of $180.17. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.00. 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 company has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

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.