Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 287 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,576 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 287 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 10,131 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,665,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 253.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 19,086 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 13,679 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 12,559 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,619 shares during the period. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 22,748 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 5,982 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $164.84 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $155.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.03. The firm has a market cap of $19.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.25.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 74,706 shares of company stock worth $12,323,138. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.