California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 39,143 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its Darden Restaurants stake by 13.6% in the first quarter, selling 39,143 shares and leaving it with 248,100 shares worth about $48.6 million.
• Darden reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $3.66 per share, while revenue rose 13.7% year over year to $3.72 billion. The company also set FY 2027 EPS guidance of 11.10 to 11.35.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.62 per share from $1.50, and analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $228.88.

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 13.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 248,100 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 39,143 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.22% of Darden Restaurants worth $48,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently 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 on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at $858,864.65. This represents a 70.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.9%

DRI opened at $194.77 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $220.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business's 50-day moving average price is $202.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $202.80. The company has a market cap of $22.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business's revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on DRI. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Stephens boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Evercore lowered Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants 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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