Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $4.37 Million Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 980.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 65.1% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $152.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.65.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.43%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,270,034.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,723 shares of company stock worth $2,578,122. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.