CENTRAL TRUST Co continued to hold its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock at the end of the second quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $167,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 9,630 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. James Investment Research Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $1,345,000. Ledyard National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the second quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 1,718 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 550.9% in the second quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 20,034 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,812,000 after buying an additional 16,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.6% in the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 48,067 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,347,000 after buying an additional 2,119 shares in the last quarter. 96.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE DRI) opened at 89.57 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.50 and a 12-month high of $95.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $90.28 and its 200-day moving average is $81.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55 and a beta of 0.28.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 27th. The restaurant operator reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 6.68% and a return on equity of 26.18%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post $4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 6th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 66.14%.
TRADEMARK VIOLATION NOTICE: This article was reported by StockNewsTimes and is the sole property of of StockNewsTimes. If you are viewing this article on another website, it was copied illegally and reposted in violation of US & international copyright & trademark law. The correct version of this article can be viewed at https://stocknewstimes.com/2017/07/21/darden-restaurants-inc-dri-position-held-by-central-trust-co.html.
Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BidaskClub cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 16th. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Bank of America Corporation increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, June 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.78.
In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Eugene I. Lee, Jr. sold 93,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.58, for a total transaction of $8,528,387.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,062 shares in the company, valued at $15,116,377.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.
About Darden Restaurants
Darden Restaurants, Inc is a full-service restaurant company. The Company owned and operated 1,536 restaurants through its subsidiaries in the United States and Canada, as of May 29, 2016. The Company’s segments include Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Fine Dining (which includes The Capital Grille, and Eddie V’s Prime Seafood and Wildfish Seafood Grille (Eddie V’s)) and Other Business (which includes Yard House, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, consumer-packaged goods and franchise revenues).
Receive News & Ratings for Darden Restaurants Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Darden Restaurants Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
