Foundry Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Foundry Partners LLC decreased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,482 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC owned about 0.07% of Darden Restaurants worth $15,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DRI. Raymond James increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.38.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,047 shares of company stock worth $11,947,346 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock traded down $3.62 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $182.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 497,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,279,013. The company has a market cap of $21.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $211.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $196.10 and a 200-day moving average of $180.44.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

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.