Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. Acquires 286 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI)

Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,091 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $551,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 7.5% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 36,232 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,032,000 after buying an additional 2,529 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 23.2% in the first quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 82,300 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,886,000 after buying an additional 15,500 shares in the last quarter. Harwood Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,940,000. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.1% in the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 114,399 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,572,000 after buying an additional 4,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Manhattan Co. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.8% in the first quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 2,754 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.49% of the company’s stock.

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) opened at 83.48 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $87.01 and its 200 day moving average is $83.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95 and a beta of 0.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.16 and a 52 week high of $95.22.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 27th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 6.68% and a return on equity of 26.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post $4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 6th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.14%.

Several research firms have recently commented on DRI. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. J P Morgan Chase & Co restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price target (up previously from $82.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price target (up previously from $81.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.78.

In other news, insider Eugene I. Lee, Jr. sold 93,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.58, for a total transaction of $8,528,387.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,062 shares in the company, valued at $15,116,377.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a full-service restaurant company. The Company owned and operated 1,536 restaurants through its subsidiaries in the United States and Canada, as of May 29, 2016. The Company’s segments include Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Fine Dining (which includes The Capital Grille, and Eddie V’s Prime Seafood and Wildfish Seafood Grille (Eddie V’s)) and Other Business (which includes Yard House, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, consumer-packaged goods and franchise revenues).