Acadian Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 3,215 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,215 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $486,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth $31,000. Union Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $159.14 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, June 21st. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.18.

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.