Great Lakes Advisors LLC Has $41.73 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,538 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,875 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Darden Restaurants worth $41,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 3.3 %

DRI opened at $189.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.03.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants 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.