Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 1,333 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 132,986 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,333 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned 0.11% of Darden Restaurants worth $20,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 worth $297,244,000 after acquiring an additional 169,642 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.5% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,572,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $262,867,000 after acquiring an additional 82,356 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $233,075,000 after purchasing an additional 6,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $172,811,000 after purchasing an additional 132,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on DRI shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.2 %

DRI opened at $170.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $150.34 and its 200-day moving average is $153.52. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. 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.