Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $1.02 Million Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,736 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 265 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,202,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $298,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 99.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,467 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,063,000 after buying an additional 3,221 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 21st. TD Cowen cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.95.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI traded down $1.17 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $141.93. 325,797 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,223,723. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $133.36 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $146.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.51. The company has a market cap of $16.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.29.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Darden Restaurants 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.