Cullen Investment Group LTD. Reduces Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Cullen Investment Group LTD. reduced its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 39.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,423 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 14,165 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $201.51 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $207.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.35. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. The trade was a 13.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total transaction of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. This trade represents a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last 90 days. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.24.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.