Activist Investor Jeffrey Smith’s Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) Posts Strong Fiscal Q4 Results: Is It A Buy At The Moment?

Hedge fund activity in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Heading into the second quarter, a total of 29 hedge funds held long positions in this stock, a change of 32% from the previous quarter. Hedgies’ are getting more bullish about this stock, and as expected, many hedge funds opened fresh positions in the stock, while a few others strengthened their positions in it. Following Starboard Value LP, the second-largest holding in the company among funds we track was held by Hutchin Hill Capital, led by Neil Chriss, holding 800,000 shares valued at $55.5 million at the end of the first quarter. The fund had 1.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other members of the smart money that held long positions comprise John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Ken Griffin‘s Citadel Investment Group, and Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management.

A few hedge funds opened up fresh positions in the stock in the first quarter as well. Leading the way was again Hutchin Hill Capital, managed by Neil Chriss, which assembled the most outsized new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI). Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management also initiated a $9.4 million position in the stock during the quarter. Other funds with brand new Darden positions include Eric Bannasch’s Cadian Capital, Ray Carroll’s Breton Hill Capital, and Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management.

Activist Investor Jeff Smith has influenced some significant changes to the company, and is reaping the rewards at the moment. We recommend other investors do the same and buy this stock, since all indications are strongly positive that the company is headed in the right direction at the moment.

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