Bowman & Co S.C. Increases Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Bowman & Co S.C. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,431 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the quarter. Bowman & Co S.C.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,973,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,619 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 7.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $3,901,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 206.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,204,000 after buying an additional 33,066 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Bank of America raised 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Argus lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.50.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $154.07. 954,843 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,227,587. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week 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 company has a market cap of $18.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $146.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.62.

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

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 65.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.85% 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.