Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC Sells 111 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 111 shares during the quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $72,901,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,601,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 129.6% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 553,721 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $90,976,000 after buying an additional 312,531 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,202,711 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $368,183,000 after buying an additional 234,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after buying an additional 169,642 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3 %

DRI traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $142.27. 1,185,667 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,233,593. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $147.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.62. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.29.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BTIG Research upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen cut Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $170.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.85% 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.