BNP Paribas Financial Markets Increases Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 22.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 293,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,549 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $54,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,824,996,000 after buying an additional 236,620 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,587,939,000 after buying an additional 43,965 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $849,726,000 after buying an additional 1,102,211 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,675,000 after buying an additional 1,171,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,904,022 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $362,848,000 after buying an additional 19,819 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of several analyst reports. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $198.30 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $197.83 and its 200 day moving average is $196.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.49%.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.