Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Cuts Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lessened its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 20.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,746 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,943 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Union Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.4% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,766,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 1,640 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.3% in the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 5,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on DRI shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stephens dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $159.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.18.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.1 %

DRI opened at $160.25 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $19.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.49.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

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.