Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Buys Shares of 83,343 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired 83,343 shares of Darden Restaurants, valued at approximately $17.3 million, increasing its stake to about 0.07% of the company.
• Darden Restaurants reported strong quarterly earnings, with $2.98 EPS, beating estimates, and announced a new $1 billion share buyback plan aimed at repurchasing approximately 3.8% of its stock.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $1.50 per share, reflecting a 2.9% annual yield, up from the previous $1.40, with a dividend payout ratio of 67.57%.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 83,343 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $17,315,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.07% of Darden Restaurants at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Perbak Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $211,000. Chiron Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $208,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 11.1% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 149.8% in the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 52,260 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $10,858,000 after buying an additional 31,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 85.2% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,208 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total transaction of $160,160.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,139,189.50. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. This represents a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $210.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,199,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 802,231. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.71. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.98 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The stock's 50 day moving average is $208.22 and its 200 day moving average is $205.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%.The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue 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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 67.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DRI. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.19.

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.