Night Squared LP Makes New $5.13 Million Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Night Squared LP acquired 24,697 shares of Darden Restaurants, valued at approximately $5.13 million, representing 3% of its portfolio, making DRI its 15th largest position.
• Darden Restaurants reported quarterly earnings of $2.98 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, and forecasted FY 2026 EPS guidance of 10.500-10.700.
• The company announced a $1 billion stock buyback program, allowing it to repurchase up to 3.8% of its shares, signaling confidence in its stock value.

Night Squared LP purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 24,697 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $5,131,000. Darden Restaurants makes up approximately 3.0% of Night Squared LP's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.8% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,688 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.5% during the first quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 4,053 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $849,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.5% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.1% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the transaction, the insider owned 46,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This represents a 22.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total value of $1,284,431.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. The trade was a 55.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE DRI traded up $1.06 on Tuesday, reaching $208.00. 783,248 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 846,046. The business's fifty day moving average price is $209.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.98 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%.The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DRI. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.