Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Reduces Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB decreased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,688 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $10,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 6.1% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 24,132 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,961,000 after acquiring an additional 1,388 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares during the period. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 25.0% during the third quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 26,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,303,000 after buying an additional 5,247 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 24.5% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 11,181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth approximately $354,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $197.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $182.88 and a 200 day moving average of $167.12. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $201.94. The stock has a market cap of $23.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.