Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 228,207 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its Darden Restaurants stake by 25.4% in the first quarter, selling 228,207 shares and leaving it with 670,435 shares valued at about $131.4 million.
• Darden reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $3.66 per share, while revenue came in roughly in line with forecasts at $3.72 billion and rose 13.7% from a year earlier.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.62 per share from $1.50, and analysts remain generally positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.88.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 25.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 670,435 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 228,207 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.59% of Darden Restaurants worth $131,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.8% during the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $858,864.65. This represents a 70.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $196.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $220.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $202.93. 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 (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The company's revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on DRI shares. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen investment 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.88.

About Darden Restaurants

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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