Intech Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 93.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,756 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.2% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,343 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,403 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,561 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $2,095,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 234.3% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,712 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 4,704 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE DRI opened at $167.69 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $163.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The stock has a market cap of $19.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Barclays increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating 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 research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

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.