Activist investor group Barington Capital Group stepped up its push for change at restaurant chain and Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants Inc on Thursday.Barington, which leads a group of shareholders that own a combined 2 percent stake in the chain, said it hired investment bank Houlihan Lokey to conduct an independent review of recommendations to improve Darden's financial performance.New York-based Barington has urged Darden management to break the company up and explore spinning off its real estate properties.The fund recommends that Darden split into two companies -one for Olive Garden and Red Lobster, and the other for its higher-growth brands including LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Yard House and Bahama Breeze.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. is a full service restaurant company. Shares of DRI traded higher by 0.85% or $0.45/share to $53.41. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $44.11 and as high as $55.25. On average, 1922410 shares of DRI exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 156440.
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