Amundi Raises Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Amundi increased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 922,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 121,015 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $171,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $51,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on DRI. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock opened at $195.06 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $203.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $190.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.48.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.