Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Nomura Asset Management reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants by 23.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 11,912 shares and ending with 38,444 shares worth about $7.07 million.
• Several analysts remain constructive on Darden, with recent target raises from Barclays, Citigroup, and others. The stock carries a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $226.32.
• Darden reported quarterly EPS of $2.95 on revenue of $3.35 billion, both slightly ahead of expectations, and it recently paid a $1.50 quarterly dividend for a 3.0% annualized yield.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 23.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,444 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 11,912 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,824,996,000 after purchasing an additional 236,620 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,587,939,000 after purchasing an additional 43,965 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $849,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,211 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $507,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,904,022 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $362,848,000 after buying an additional 19,819 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, 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. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $226.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of DRI opened at $198.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, 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. 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 fifty day moving average price of $197.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $197.24.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. Equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. 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%.

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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