Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,306 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,087 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $203.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.73.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.