51,338 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Acquired by PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators

Key Points

• PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators opened a new position in Darden Restaurants, buying 51,338 shares valued at about $9.45 million in the fourth quarter.
• Darden reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.95 and revenue of $3.35 billion, while same-quarter revenue rose 5.9% year over year.
• The company continues to draw generally positive Wall Street sentiment, with 18 Buy ratings and an average analyst target price of $226.88; Darden also pays a $1.50 quarterly dividend yielding about 3.0%.

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 51,338 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $9,447,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,941,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.4% in the third quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,556,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $198.11 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $197.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.38. 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 firm has a market cap of $22.69 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 63.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 13th. 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $226.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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.

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