Congress Asset Management Co. Trims Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Congress Asset Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 41.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,956 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,170 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Clear Trail Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $29,331,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,163.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 68,977 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,693,000 after buying an additional 63,519 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 478.9% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 17,743 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after buying an additional 14,678 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 17,844 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 83,913 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,844,000 after acquiring an additional 32,678 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, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. This represents a 42.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $201.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $23.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $207.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.35. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 63.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, March 16th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Profile

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.