Earnest Partners LLC Has $330.74 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.1%, selling 17,420 shares, while maintaining ownership of approximately 1.36% of the company, valued at $330.7 million.
• Darden Restaurants recently announced a $1 billion stock buyback program, allowing the company to repurchase up to 3.8% of its shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, marking an increase from the previous $1.40, resulting in a 2.9% dividend yield for shareholders.

Earnest Partners LLC cut its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,591,909 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 17,420 shares during the period. Darden Restaurants makes up approximately 1.6% of Earnest Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 1.36% of Darden Restaurants worth $330,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,688 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $766,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 4,053 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $440,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,029,835.56. This represents a 50.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,012,212.10. The trade was a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232 in the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of DRI traded up $0.31 on Monday, reaching $207.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 701,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 900,587. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.98 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $209.33 and a 200-day moving average of $204.91.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. The firm'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. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target 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. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.19.

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.