Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Has $37.43 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Swiss Life Asset Management cut its Darden Restaurants stake by 39.7% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 203,410 shares valued at about $37.4 million at the end of the period.
• Several Darden insiders sold shares in recent transactions, including SVP Lindsay L. Koren and SVP Douglas J. Milanes, while institutional investors still own 93.64% of the stock.
• Darden reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings per share of $2.95 and revenue of $3.35 billion, and the company also paid a $1.50 quarterly dividend that equates to a 3.1% yield.

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd cut its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 39.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 203,410 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 133,973 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd owned 0.18% of Darden Restaurants worth $37,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $196.28 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $22.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.61. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $200.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.77.

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. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on DRI. Stephens raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Raymond James Financial restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $226.24.

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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