Gator Capital Management LLC Makes New $1.65 Million Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Gator Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,948 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,647,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.7% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.3%

DRI stock opened at $211.42 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $198.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $198.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its 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. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.