Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Reduces Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,941 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 345 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $17,202,000. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,973,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,619 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 968,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $159,047,000 after purchasing an additional 65,223 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $191.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.95.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $0.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $142.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,185,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,593. 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 fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $147.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.56. The company has a market capitalization of $16.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.29.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

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

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.