Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,858 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 243 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,959,000 after purchasing an additional 375,292 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth about $40,048,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after buying an additional 123,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stephens upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $190.83 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $201.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $185.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

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.