Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Sienna Gestion

Sienna Gestion reduced its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,536 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $2,404,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 23,473 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,319,000 after purchasing an additional 5,830 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,890 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 177.3% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,547 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,388,000 after purchasing an additional 8,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $6,743,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $209.00 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.94 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.16.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.