Swedbank AB Sells 10,359 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its Darden Restaurants stake by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,359 shares and leaving it with 67,699 shares valued at about $12.46 million.
• Several insiders also sold shares, including SVP Lindsay L. Koren and SVP Douglas J. Milanes, whose transactions significantly reduced their ownership positions.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Darden, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24, while the company recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates.

Swedbank AB cut its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,699 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 10,359 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.06% of Darden Restaurants worth $12,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,556,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust co grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. AGP Franklin LLC now owns 13,137 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,418,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $203.87 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $23.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $197.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.10.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 63.49%.

Darden Restaurants 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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