571 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Acquired by Central Pacific Bank Trust Division

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 571 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $95,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,202,000. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,973,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,619 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 968,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $159,047,000 after purchasing an additional 65,223 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $138.02 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.29. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $148.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.28.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.73%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday. Argus cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants 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.