Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Acquired by Choreo LLC

Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 38.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,723 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,273 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $303,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 52,525.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,210 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 4,202 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 62.4% during the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,939 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $486,000. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.6% during the second quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 13,830 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Argus reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. TD Cowen cut Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $170.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $157.37 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The firm has a market cap of $18.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities 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 was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.