Navigate this market better. Subscribe for FREE stock alerts and information.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Darden board vulnerable as activists circle -analysts, (NYSE: DRI)

Darden Restaurants Inc's board looks vulnerable to a key activist shareholder's push for a shakeup that could pave the way for broader changes at the underperforming owner of Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse.Although the company recently conceded three board seats to Starboard Value LP, a few more of the remaining nine members could be voted out at Darden's Sept. 30 annual meeting if a settlement is not reached before that time, a half dozen analysts said.Starboard and other investors remain particularly frustrated by the company's rebuff of a recent shareholder vote calling for a special meeting to debate the merits of Darden's then-pending sale of Red Lobster."It looks pretty good at this point for the dissidents," Charles Elson, director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance in Newark, Delaware, said of the brewing proxy contest at Darden.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. is full service restaurant company. Shares of DRI fell by 1.11% or $-0.52/share to $46.33. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $43.56 and as high as $54.89. On average, 1662760 shares of DRI exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1195005.



Source