Sienna Gestion Cuts Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Sienna Gestion lessened its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,536 shares during the quarter. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 926.7% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 196 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $209.00 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $198.79 and a 200-day moving average of $198.93.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 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%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 63.49%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on DRI shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.16.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.