Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC Sells 111 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 111 shares during the quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $72,901,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,601,000. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 129.6% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 553,721 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $90,976,000 after acquiring an additional 312,531 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,202,711 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $368,183,000 after acquiring an additional 234,410 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after acquiring an additional 169,642 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.95.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded up $0.37 on Friday, hitting $142.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,185,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,593. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $147.35 and a 200 day moving average of $156.62. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $133.36 and a twelve 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 firm has a market capitalization of $16.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.29.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released 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. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.