Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Has $1.83 Million Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,801 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 261 shares during the quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (up previously from $182.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.44.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $183.69 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $172.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $189.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

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.