245,618 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Bought by Interval Partners LP

Key Points

• Interval Partners LP opened a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter, buying 245,618 shares valued at about $45.2 million. The stake represents 0.8% of the fund’s holdings and about 0.21% of Darden’s stock.
• Darden’s latest quarter came in slightly above expectations, with EPS of $2.95 versus $2.94 expected and revenue of $3.35 billion versus $3.33 billion expected. Revenue rose 5.9% year over year.
• Wall Street remains positive on the stock, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $226.21. The shares opened at $211.21 and are near their 12-month high of $228.27.

Interval Partners LP acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 245,618 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $45,199,000. Darden Restaurants makes up 0.8% of Interval Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Interval Partners LP owned 0.21% of Darden Restaurants as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 9,051 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,666,000 after buying an additional 3,545 shares in the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 3,837 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $706,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $9,250,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 428.7% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 13,710 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,523,000 after buying an additional 11,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $552,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $226.21.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.0%

DRI opened at $211.21 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.60. The business's 50-day moving average price is $199.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $199.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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