Corebridge Financial Inc. Sells 1,238 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Corebridge Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.9%, selling 1,238 shares and now owning 30,583 shares valued at approximately $6.35 million.
• Darden Restaurants announced a $1 billion share repurchase plan, which indicates management believes the stock is undervalued.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend increase to $1.50 per share, up from the previous $1.40, reflecting a positive annualized yield of 2.9%.

Corebridge Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,583 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,238 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $6,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, SouthState Corp bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total value of $160,160.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at $3,139,189.50. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total transaction of $1,284,431.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. This represents a 55.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Melius Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5%

Darden Restaurants stock traded up $1.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $208.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 783,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,300,107. The company has a market capitalization of $24.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.71. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.98 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $209.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 67.57%.

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.