Amundi Decreases Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its Darden Restaurants stake by 7.1% in the second quarter, selling 27,827 shares and retaining 365,714 shares valued at approximately $75.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93.64% of Darden’s stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 18 Buy ratings and nine Holds, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $230.50. Several firms recently raised their targets, including Robert W. Baird, which upgraded the stock to Outperform with a $250 target.
• 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, representing a 3.1% yield.

Amundi trimmed its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 365,714 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 27,827 shares during the period. Amundi owned about 0.32% of Darden Restaurants worth $75,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Union Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $230.50.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares in the company, valued at $18,009,682.76. The trade was a 31.24% 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, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $3,915,354.02. This represents a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984 over the last quarter. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $209.60 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $229.76. The business's 50-day moving average price is $209.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.78. The firm has a market cap of $23.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. 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 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 62.43%.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc NYSE: DRI is a full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It operates and franchises a portfolio of dining brands serving a range of cuisines, price points and occasions, with restaurants primarily located in the United States and select international markets.

Its restaurant portfolio includes Olive Garden, an Italian-American dining chain; LongHorn Steakhouse; Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen; Yard House; The Capital Grille; Seasons 52; Bahama Breeze; Eddie V's; Ruth's Chris Steak House; and Chuy's.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.