Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Purchases 8,438 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,268 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,438 shares during the period. Darden Restaurants makes up 1.5% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $20,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,824,996,000 after purchasing an additional 236,620 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,587,939,000 after purchasing an additional 43,965 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $849,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,211 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,171,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,904,022 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $362,848,000 after purchasing an additional 19,819 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE DRI opened at $196.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.08. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.61.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders 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 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.49%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Stephens increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

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.