Empowered Funds LLC Takes $3.31 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC initiated a $3.31 million position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively own 93.64% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 18 Buy ratings and nine Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $230.50.
• Darden reported quarterly EPS of $3.66, slightly above estimates, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.62 per share, equivalent to a 3.0% annualized yield.

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,082 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $3,313,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $1,846,637.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 18,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,915,354.02. The trade was a 32.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $1,780,380.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,569 shares in the company, valued at $1,799,490. The trade was a 49.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DRI. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings cut Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Evercore downgraded Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $230.50.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $215.75 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $229.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $209.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $204.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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