Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Position Trimmed by Wellington Management Group LLP

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants by 17.3%, owning 1.04% of the company worth approximately $252 million after selling 253,770 shares in the first quarter.
• Darden Restaurants reported earnings of $2.98 per share, marginally beating estimates, with revenues of $3.27 billion for the quarter, reflecting a 10.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company has initiated a $1 billion stock buyback program and increased its quarterly dividend from $1.40 to $1.50, now representing a dividend yield of 2.9%.

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 17.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,213,346 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 253,770 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 1.04% of Darden Restaurants worth $252,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,164,000 after buying an additional 3,677 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 46.0% in the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,376,000 after purchasing an additional 5,119 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,728,000 after purchasing an additional 7,902 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 924 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $540,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 46,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This represents a 22.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.00, for a total value of $1,514,882.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at $3,132,006. The trade was a 32.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI traded up $1.95 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $208.49. 863,641 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,008,201. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $211.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.75. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.74 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change 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 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.