Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Lowers Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lessened its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 32.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 572,801 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 271,646 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $106,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $204.89 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $194.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.62. The stock has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $211.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 70,311 shares of company stock worth $13,658,221. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.