Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,985,178 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 92,368 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Darden Restaurants worth $2,297,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,274 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Union Savings Bank lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 65.1% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 2,188 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,874 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.81.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,270,034.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,599 shares of company stock valued at $2,197,891 in the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $153.58 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.86. The firm has a market cap of $18.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.