Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lessened its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,583 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 6,142 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $12,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,001,000 after buying an additional 13,074 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,164,000 after buying an additional 3,677 shares in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $286,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,882 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,405,000 after buying an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,376,000 after buying an additional 5,119 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,029,835.56. This trade represents a 50.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,645.76. This represents a 98.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,714 shares of company stock worth $9,609,494 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Darden Restaurants Stock Performance
Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded up $1.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $204.42. 867,148 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,223,927. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.19. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.10 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.57%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.19.
View Our Latest Analysis on DRI
About Darden Restaurants
(
Free Report)
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.
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