Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. Buys Shares of 9,005 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking initiated a new position in Darden Restaurants, buying 9,005 shares valued at about $1.66 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with 93.64% of Darden’s stock held by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Several other funds also added small new stakes during the period.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock: Darden has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, a target price of $226.24, and recent earnings beat expectations with quarterly EPS of $2.95 on revenue of $3.35 billion.

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,005 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,657,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DRI. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $226.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $196.91 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $197.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. 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%. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors 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 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 63.49%.

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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