Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Position Boosted by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 237.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,698 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,823 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $194.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $189.78 and a 200-day moving average of $171.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $201.94.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants 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.