Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. Invests $1.66 Million in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,005 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,657,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 22,501 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,141,000 after buying an additional 2,632 shares during the last quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $211,000. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $737,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $229,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Melius Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $196.91 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $197.68 and a 200-day moving average of $195.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants 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.