Vinva Investment Management Ltd Acquires 504 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,407 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,495 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,723,000 after buying an additional 2,121 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $682,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $409,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 93.8% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,952,000 after buying an additional 5,756 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after buying an additional 772,907 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DRI. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $198.66 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $203.47. The firm has a market cap of $23.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants 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.