5,611 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Purchased by Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC

Key Points

• Elevation Point Wealth Partners purchased 5,611 shares of Darden Restaurants worth approximately $1.16 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 93.64% of Darden’s outstanding shares.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Darden receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $228.88. Several firms recently raised their price targets, including Bank of America to $276.
• Darden reported quarterly EPS of $3.66, slightly above estimates, while revenue rose 13.7% year over year to $3.72 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $1.62 per share, implying a 2.9% annualized yield.

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,611 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,156,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $1,780,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,799,490. The trade was a 49.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $1,846,637.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,915,354.02. This trade represents a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $221.81 on Monday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $208.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $204.47. 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 one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $229.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.

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