Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Invests $1.78 Million in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,640 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,780,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DRI. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. BTIG Research increased their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $228.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the business'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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at $858,864.65. The trade was a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,110 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.32, for a total transaction of $226,795.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,197,257.28. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 61,321 shares of company stock worth $12,790,347. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:DRI opened at $208.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $220.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $203.86 and a 200 day moving average of $203.08.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. 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 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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