Whittier Trust Co. Trims Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Whittier Trust Co. lowered its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 76.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,143 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 10,250 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.8% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,688 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $766,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This represents a 22.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total value of $160,160.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,139,189.50. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $207.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.21 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $201.19. 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 posted its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders 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 is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.19.

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.

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