Prospector Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Prospector Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 65,278 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,593 shares during the quarter. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $10,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 42,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,398,000 after buying an additional 5,945 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 21.9% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,944,000 after acquiring an additional 8,480 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 523.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 194,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,995,000 after purchasing an additional 163,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at $621,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.13.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $286,552.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,334 shares in the company, valued at $917,448. This represents a 23.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $175.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $20.59 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50 day moving average is $164.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.43. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $177.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.59%.

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.