USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 6,100 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

USS Investment Management Ltd lowered its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 33,119 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 6,100 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $6,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $203.68 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $200.66 and a 200-day moving average of $189.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $23.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $211.82.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares in the company, valued at $12,249,066.84. The trade was a 25.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,495,072.96. This trade represents a 20.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.