Capital World Investors Has $2.79 Billion Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,925,835 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 26,842 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned about 0.13% of Darden Restaurants worth $2,786,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $75,137,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 184.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 297,938 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $55,622,000 after acquiring an additional 193,134 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,556,000 after purchasing an additional 182,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One 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, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $200.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.10.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given 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 63.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,264 shares of company stock valued at $9,058,583 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.