Swedbank AB Cuts Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Swedbank AB cut its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 78,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 294 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $12,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.8% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,561 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 234.3% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,712 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 4,704 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16,455.6% during the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,490 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter worth about $4,216,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 26.4% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,555 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,937,000 after buying an additional 4,913 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $173.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.43 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $177.58. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.43.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.59%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $286,552.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,334 shares in the company, valued at $917,448. This trade represents a 23.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

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.