Meeder Asset Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 176 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at about $72,901,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $58,601,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after purchasing an additional 169,642 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 311.1% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 207,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,628,000 after buying an additional 156,772 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $349,268,000 after buying an additional 105,433 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $160.25 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One 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, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.18.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. In related 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.