Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Lowers Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,070 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Impact Investors Inc purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $405,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,556,000 after purchasing an additional 182,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 7,228 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 3.0 %

DRI stock opened at $200.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $201.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $190.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.50.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 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 represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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.