Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Bought by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 224.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,910 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 6,166 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,161,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,941,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 5,125 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 45,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,239,000 after purchasing an additional 2,385 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $206.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $23.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $197.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 13th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Stephens boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.32.

Darden Restaurants 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.