Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6,456.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 182,275 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $34,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.4% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,839 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 51.6% in the third quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth approximately $260,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.0% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 17,439 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,862,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.4% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $197.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $189.09 and a 200 day moving average of $171.78. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $201.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.