Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,784 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 205 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 373,265 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,946 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $61,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 84.4% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,384 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $818,000 after buying an additional 2,007 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $302,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,122 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $396,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.1 %

DRI opened at $194.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.78. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.87%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were 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. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.