Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Increases Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management increased its Darden Restaurants stake by 224.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 8,910 shares valued at about $1.64 million.
• Wall Street remains largely positive on Darden, with several analysts raising price targets and the stock holding a Moderate Buy consensus rating and average target of $226.32.
• Darden reported better-than-expected quarterly results, including EPS of $2.95 and revenue of $3.35 billion, and also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 224.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,910 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 6,166 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $17,438,000 after buying an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $226.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.2%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $206.26 on Thursday. 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 capitalization of $23.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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 $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's 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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