IFM Investors Pty Ltd lowered its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Free Report) by 15.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,624 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,643 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Severin Investments LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.5% during the first quarter. Severin Investments LLC now owns 1,992 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the first quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS now owns 18,003 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.2% during the first quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 13,948 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,786,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.0% during the first quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC now owns 28,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,730 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Barclays upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings cut Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Evercore downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.32.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.
Darden Restaurants Stock Performance
Shares of DRI opened at $203.84 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $202.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $201.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $220.85. The firm has a market cap of $23.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.
Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.80%.
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.
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