Baldwin Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Baldwin Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,028 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Baldwin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $642,967,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $75,137,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 184.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 297,938 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $55,622,000 after purchasing an additional 193,134 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $34,556,000 after purchasing an additional 182,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $203.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.07. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.