Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Acquired by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 42.1% during the first quarter, owning 6,515 shares valued at $1,354,000 as of the latest reporting period.
• Darden Restaurants announced a $1 billion stock buyback program aimed at repurchasing up to 3.8% of its shares, indicating the board's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company also increased its quarterly dividend from $1.40 to $1.50 per share, representing a 2.9% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 67.57%.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 42.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,515 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 1,930 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $540,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,512 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 25,846 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,825,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 8,504 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $503,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI traded up $1.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $208.00. 783,248 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,300,107. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.98 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%.The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.57%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Darden Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Melius began coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.19.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total transaction of $1,059,598.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,835.56. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total value of $160,160.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,139,189.50. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

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.