40,012 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Bought by Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec

Key Points

• The Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec has invested approximately $8.31 million in Darden Restaurants, acquiring 40,012 shares during the first quarter.
• Darden recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.98, exceeding estimates and showing a 10.6% increase in revenue year over year.
• The company has announced a dividend increase to $1.50 per share, representing a yield of 2.9%, up from the previous dividend of $1.40.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 40,012 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $8,313,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $540,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,199 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $597,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $269,117,000 after purchasing an additional 158,168 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,512 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.9% during 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 buying an additional 1,666 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total value of $107,031.95. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,109,816.95. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This trade represents a 22.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $208.00. The company had a trading volume of 783,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 846,046. The company has a market capitalization of $24.25 billion, a PE 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.98 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $208.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.04.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board 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 reacquire up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.