Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Acquires New Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,265 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $423,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Mystic Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,394,000. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $394,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $119,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 18,534 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,460,000 after acquiring an additional 2,387 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 5.6 %

DRI stock opened at $198.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.31. The company has a market cap of $23.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $203.47. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on DRI. KeyCorp upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Raymond James boosted their price target 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. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.33.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.