Intrust Bank NA Sells 463 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Intrust Bank NA reduced its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,619 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 463 shares during the quarter. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.0% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,274 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 13,705 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 65.1% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.85.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. 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 7,673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,599 shares of company stock worth $2,197,891. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $153.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $164.41 and a 200 day moving average of $159.68. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.94% and a net margin of 9.24%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.