Caxton Associates LP Lowers Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Caxton Associates LP cut its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 28.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,801 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,291 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 94.0% in the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 13,254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,215,000 after buying an additional 6,422 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.5% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,572,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $262,867,000 after purchasing an additional 82,356 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,403 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.0% during the first quarter. Steadfast Capital Management LP now owns 933,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $155,951,000 after purchasing an additional 85,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 134,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $22,451,000 after purchasing an additional 6,151 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $148.14 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.29. 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 fifty day moving average of $147.21 and a 200 day moving average of $156.40. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $191.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider R Broad Matthew 5,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider R Broad Matthew 5,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.