Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Bought by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 132,643 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.96% of Darden Restaurants worth $172,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $349,268,000 after acquiring an additional 105,433 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after buying an additional 169,642 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,572,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $262,867,000 after buying an additional 82,356 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $233,075,000 after buying an additional 6,968 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,004,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $152,066,000 after buying an additional 26,081 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE DRI opened at $170.17 on Friday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.52. 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 $20.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

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.