Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 200 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,736 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Union Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 227 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded down $1.17 on Monday, hitting $141.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 325,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,223,723. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $146.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.51. The company has a market capitalization of $16.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on DRI shares. Argus reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $191.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company 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.