Capital International Investors Has $79.77 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Capital International Investors sharply reduced its Darden Restaurants stake by 77.3% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 433,155 shares valued at about $79.8 million.
• Darden reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.95 beating estimates and revenue of $3.35 billion, up 5.9% year over year.
• Wall Street remains constructive on the stock: analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus, with an average price target of $226.88, while Darden also pays a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share for a 3.1% yield.

Capital International Investors cut its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 77.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 433,155 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,470,867 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors owned approximately 0.38% of Darden Restaurants worth $79,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.0%

DRI stock opened at $196.16 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $197.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 63.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $226.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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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