Simmons Bank Sells 367 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Simmons Bank decreased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 367 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth approximately $628,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth $78,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 206.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,204,000 after buying an additional 33,066 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,859 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 163,436 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,318,000 after acquiring an additional 16,856 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,601.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.6 %

DRI stock opened at $169.68 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $162.76 and a 200-day moving average of $153.46. The company has a market cap of $19.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

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.