Capital International Inc. CA Acquires 35,531 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Capital International Inc. CA raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 36.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 133,842 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 35,531 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA owned approximately 0.11% of Darden Restaurants worth $24,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,505 shares of company stock worth $6,667,929 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $200.04. 426,144 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,283,941. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.88. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. The company has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.