Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Lowers Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lessened its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 28.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 237 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $44,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Impact Investors Inc purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $405,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6,456.8% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 185,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $34,556,000 after purchasing an additional 182,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 7,228 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $200.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $201.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $190.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.92. The stock has a market cap of $23.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

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.