Rhumbline Advisers Grows Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 255,882 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 15,119 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.22% of Darden Restaurants worth $53,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.77.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:DRI traded up $1.95 on Friday, reaching $217.01. 341,669 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,320,653. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $218.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $202.85 and a 200-day moving average of $192.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. This represents a 20.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V's Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.