AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Purchases Shares of 4,707 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired 4,707 shares of Darden Restaurants, valued at approximately $1,008,000 during the first quarter.
• Recent insider transactions included SVP Matthew R. Broad and SVP Susan M. Connelly selling 733 and 4,735 shares respectively, indicating notable insider buying and selling activity.
• Darden Restaurants announced a $1 billion share repurchase plan and increased its quarterly dividend from $1.40 to $1.50, signaling confidence in its financial health.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,707 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,008,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 4,974 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $929,000 after buying an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 611.6% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 48,709 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $9,093,000 after purchasing an additional 41,864 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 15,975 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,090 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,073 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,187,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total transaction of $160,160.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at $3,139,189.50. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,029,835.56. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232 over the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, June 13th. Stephens increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $212.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Citigroup increased 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, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $224.92.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.4%

DRI opened at $212.62 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.71. The business's 50-day moving average price is $207.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.01. 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 12 month low of $155.18 and a 12 month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%.Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.57%.

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.

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