Skba Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Skba Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 76,720 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 23,250 shares during the period. Darden Restaurants makes up 2.3% of Skba Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Skba Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $14,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th 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 period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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, March 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,311 shares of company stock worth $13,658,221 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $204.89 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG 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 $211.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.13%.

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.