Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Holdings Lowered by Scissortail Wealth Management LLC

Scissortail Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,751 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 129 shares during the quarter. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.8% during the first quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 58,486 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,151,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,977 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 38.6% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 76,758 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $15,947,000 after purchasing an additional 21,359 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $202.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $213.27 and its 200 day moving average is $203.65. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.50 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $1.50 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,645.76. The trade was a 98.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.00, for a total value of $1,514,882.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,132,006. This trade represents a 32.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.