M&G Plc Trims Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

M&G Plc cut its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 91.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,212 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 65,675 shares during the quarter. M&G Plc’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Union Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 227 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded up $2.12 on Tuesday, reaching $144.20. The stock had a trading volume of 760,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,222,512. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $146.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.29.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.73%.

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.