Pacer Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 68.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,635 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 22,730 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $195.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $196.80. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

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.