QV Investors Inc. Sells 35,220 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

QV Investors Inc. decreased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 40.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,482 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 35,220 shares during the quarter. QV Investors Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $10,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Impact Investors Inc acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,001,000 after purchasing an additional 13,074 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $27,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the period. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $286,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $215.42. 182,479 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,319,864. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $218.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $202.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.80.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Darden Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.38.

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.