Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Holdings Lowered by Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel

Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel cut its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 17.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 630 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $96,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 43.3% in the first quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 63.4% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 237 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 42.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 240 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. VNET Group reaffirmed a “reiterates” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Friday, June 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Friday, June 23rd. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.78.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, Chairman Eugene I. Lee, Jr. sold 31,818 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.29, for a total value of $5,100,107.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 199,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,034,918.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 5,301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.43, for a total transaction of $855,740.43. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,785,415.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Eugene I. Lee, Jr. sold 31,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.29, for a total transaction of $5,100,107.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 199,856 shares in the company, valued at $32,034,918.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 260,775 shares of company stock worth $43,532,251 in the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.6 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $148.81 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.20 and a 12 month high of $173.06. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.36. The stock has a market cap of $17.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.24.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 22nd. The restaurant operator reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 47.22% and a net margin of 9.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.24 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 10th were given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 7th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 65.50%.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, through 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 brands.