1ST Source Bank Lowers Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

1ST Source Bank reduced its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,255 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 176 shares during the quarter. 1ST Source Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total value of $201,294.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,719. This trade represents a 99.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.46.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $166.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $177.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.41.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

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.