Boston Partners Grows Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 846,994 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,174 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned about 0.71% of Darden Restaurants worth $141,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 11.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,202,711 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $368,183,000 after acquiring an additional 234,410 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after acquiring an additional 169,642 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.5% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,572,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $262,867,000 after acquiring an additional 82,356 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $233,075,000 after acquiring an additional 6,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 978,851 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $163,615,000 after acquiring an additional 16,454 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI traded down $1.32 on Friday, hitting $144.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,066,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,385,455. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $133.36 and a 12-month high of $176.84. The company has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $147.05 and a 200-day moving average of $156.16.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. BTIG Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, May 17th. Argus reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.95.

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.