WINTON GROUP Ltd Trims Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

WINTON GROUP Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 83.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,584 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 28,516 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.7% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 2.4%

DRI opened at $200.66 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $197.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.95.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings raised Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Stephens boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.88.

About Darden Restaurants

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.