Ethic Inc. Increases Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 13.4% during the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 1,515 shares to reach a total of 12,797 shares valued at approximately $2.68 million.
• A number of large investors have also increased their stakes in Darden, with Charles Schwab and GAMMA Investing LLC notably raising their positions significantly during the same quarter.
• Darden Restaurants announced a $1 billion stock buyback program and increased its quarterly dividend from $1.40 to $1.50 per share, reflecting confidence in its stock value.

Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 13.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,797 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 1,515 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 97.4% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 74,856 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $15,511,000 after buying an additional 36,935 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 1,747 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 913,398 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $189,768,000 after purchasing an additional 136,382 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% during the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% during the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,612 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $958,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,132,006. This trade represents a 32.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares in the company, valued at $32,645.76. This trade represents a 98.78% 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 valued at $10,022,232 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Stephens raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Melius started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:DRI traded down $0.9060 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $206.5840. The company had a trading volume of 581,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,322,107. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $211.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.34. 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 1 year low of $153.23 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. The firm's 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 forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 purchase 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 business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants 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.