Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Purchased by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 116,019 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 10,805 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.10% of Darden Restaurants worth $21,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 98.5% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 64,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,206,000 after buying an additional 31,815 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 164.1% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 3,027 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth about $2,536,000. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth about $6,743,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $194.73 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $201.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.56. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on DRI. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.