Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Trims Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 10.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,502 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 5,306 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. TD Cowen lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $191.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. One research 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.95.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:DRI traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $146.12. 66,508 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,207,381. The company has a fifty day moving average of $147.24 and a 200 day moving average of $156.46. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.29.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.