Qsemble Capital Management LP Grows Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Qsemble Capital Management LP increased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 61.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,524 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 11,241 shares during the period. Darden Restaurants comprises 0.9% of Qsemble Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Qsemble Capital Management LP’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DRI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 4.9 %

NYSE DRI traded up $8.19 on Monday, hitting $175.88. 343,449 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,219,087. The company has a market capitalization of $20.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $163.80 and a 200 day moving average of $154.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total value of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. This represents a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

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.