Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 558 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 5.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,068 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 558 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Union Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,766,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 65.1% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.8% during the first quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 9,356 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% during the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 1,640 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. TD Cowen cut Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Bank of America upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.95.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was 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 directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $0.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $142.27. 1,185,667 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,233,593. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.56. The company has a market cap of $16.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.29.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced 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 return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. 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 company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid 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 is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

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.