Gator Capital Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Gator Capital Management opened a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter, buying 8,948 shares valued at about $1.65 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high at 93.64%, and several other funds recently increased their stakes in DRI as well.
• Analysts are mostly positive on the stock: the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with an average price target of $226.88, while Darden also reported earnings and revenue that slightly beat expectations.

Gator Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 8,948 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,647,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,438,000 after acquiring an additional 2,553 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $226.88.

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 value of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $211.42 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $198.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $198.55. 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 stock has a market cap of $24.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The company's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.49%.

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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