But the biggest news for Darden this quarter came from activist investor Barington Capital, which took a nearly 3% stake in the stock back in October. Barington thinks that Darden should break up into separate entities, with faster-growing small chains going into one entity and Olive Garden and Red Lobster continuing in the other. Just yesterday, Barington recommended a plan that could also include spinning off the chain's real-estate holdings into a separately traded real estate investment trust, taking advantage of investors' appetite for income-producing properties with reliable long-term tenants.