BNP Paribas Lowers Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

BNP Paribas reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,268 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 537 shares during the period. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 11.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $629,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. This represents a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on DRI. Citigroup dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.8 %

DRI stock opened at $173.84 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $164.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.43. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $177.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $20.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.59%.

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.