UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Has $2.68 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,366 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 20,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,760,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,311 shares of company stock worth $13,658,221 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $204.89 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $194.62 and a 200-day moving average of $178.47. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.00. The stock has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.