Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 73.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,948 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 79,172 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Union Savings Bank increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 106.4% in the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 227 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective 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. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE DRI opened at $156.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $147.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.82.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.