Great Lakes Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 223,538 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,875 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $41,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,293 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $24,832,000 after purchasing an additional 5,816 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 89.7% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,374 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 3,486 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 2,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $189.14 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $203.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $191.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.03. The company has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.67, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm’s 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.