Great Lakes Advisors LLC Has $34.31 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 226,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 6,438 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned 0.19% of Darden Restaurants worth $34,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Union Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,766,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 1,640 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.3% during the 1st 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. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of DRI stock traded down $0.51 on Friday, reaching $157.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,150,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,220,582. The company has a 50-day moving average of $147.39 and a 200-day moving average of $154.07. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The stock has a market cap of $18.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a PEG ratio of 1.77 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.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRI. BTIG Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, July 19th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 value 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.