Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. by 19.2%, now owning approximately 0.31% worth $76.4 million after selling 87,589 shares in the first quarter.
• Darden Restaurants has seen varied movements in investor interest, with significant increases in stakes from others like GAMMA Investing LLC, which grew its stake by an incredible 46,484.5%.
• The company's stock has received upgrades from analysts, with the price target increasing from $165 to $210 by Jefferies Financial Group, indicating a sentiment of growth potential.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 19.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 367,788 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 87,589 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 0.31% of Darden Restaurants worth $76,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $300,446,000 after acquiring an additional 4,454 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $269,117,000 after purchasing an additional 158,168 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,282,666 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $239,466,000 after purchasing an additional 116,047 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $192,987,000 after purchasing an additional 926,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 591,668 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $110,458,000 after purchasing an additional 81,131 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $204.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business's 50 day moving average is $213.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $203.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.50 and a twelve month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total transaction of $2,653,411.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,645.76. The trade was a 98.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total value of $2,937,010.05. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This trade represents a 22.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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.

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