BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires 53,549 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 22.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 53,549 additional shares to bring its total to 293,895 shares worth about $54.1 million.
• Institutional interest in DRI remains strong, with several major funds also adding positions; overall, 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
• Darden Restaurants recently beat earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $2.95 and revenue of $3.35 billion, while analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with an average price target of $226.32.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 293,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 53,549 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.26% of Darden Restaurants worth $54,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in 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. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in 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. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $144,483,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 239.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 722,529 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $157,490,000 after acquiring an additional 509,655 shares during the period. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,190,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $226.32.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $198.30 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The company's 50-day moving average is $197.83 and its 200 day moving average is $196.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

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

About Darden Restaurants

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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