Hilton Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Hilton Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,049 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,319 shares during the quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Impact Investors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,343,000 after acquiring an additional 4,543 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,901,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 4.8 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $180.80 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $191.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid 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 3.10%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on DRI. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

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.