Interval Partners LP Invests $45.20 Million in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Interval Partners LP acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 245,618 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $45,199,000. Darden Restaurants makes up about 0.8% of Interval Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,438,000 after buying an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,151,000 after buying an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,964,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE DRI opened at $211.21 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $199.35 and its 200 day moving average is $199.36.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The company had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DRI. Weiss Ratings lowered Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.21.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.