Allworth Financial LP Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Allworth Financial initiated a position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter, purchasing 4,545 shares valued at approximately $936,000. Institutional investors collectively own 93.64% of DRI.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with 17 Buy ratings and 10 Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $228.88.
• Darden reported quarterly earnings of $3.66 per share, slightly exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 13.7% year over year. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $1.62, implying a 2.9% annual yield.

Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,545 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $936,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at $858,864.65. This trade represents a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total transaction of $8,181,354.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 86,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. This represents a 31.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 in the last ninety days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $221.81 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $229.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $208.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.45.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The firm 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%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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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