Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 33,965 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,265,473 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 33,965 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.10% of Darden Restaurants worth $248,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions 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 stock was 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 owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at $858,864.65. The trade was a 70.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of DRI opened at $193.98 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $202.76 and its 200 day moving average is $202.98. 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 company has a market capitalization of $22.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders 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 an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 62.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Argus increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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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