Ethic Inc. Sells 9,332 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Ethic Inc. lessened its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 45.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,282 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 9,332 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Impact Investors Inc bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $67,001,000 after buying an additional 13,074 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,343,000 after buying an additional 4,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QV Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,373,000 after buying an additional 3,580 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. This represents a 18.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:DRI opened at $198.15 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 63.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Bank of America upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.38.

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.