Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,306 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,087 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.73. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $203.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.