Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 112 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $191.12 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.04. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $201.94. The firm has a market cap of $22.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

About Darden Restaurants

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.