ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $162.92 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $157.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.46. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at $1,005,911.65. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 77,706 shares of company stock worth $12,813,038. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DRI. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.25.

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.