Twin Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Twin Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 445.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,354 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 6,823 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 171.4% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter worth $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 296.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of DRI opened at $209.45 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $214.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $138.21 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total value of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This trade represents a 22.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,645.76. This trade represents a 98.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on DRI. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.19.

About Darden Restaurants

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.

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