Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $22.45 Million Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 134,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 6,151 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned approximately 0.11% of Darden Restaurants worth $22,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 65.1% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. 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 research note on Thursday, June 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $191.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on 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, Barclays lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.95.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI traded up $3.57 on Monday, hitting $145.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 611,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,209,229. The company has a market capitalization of $17.33 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.29. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $147.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.56. 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 (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.