FCG Investment Co Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• FCG Investment Co has purchased a new stake of 5,999 shares in Darden Restaurants, valued at approximately $1,308,000.
• Darden Restaurants reported earnings of $1.97 per share for its recent quarter, missing expectations by $0.04, but revenue increased by 10.4% year-over-year.
• The company has initiated a $1.00 billion share repurchase program, indicating management's belief that the shares are currently undervalued.

FCG Investment Co purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,999 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,308,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $830,666,000 after purchasing an additional 247,542 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $748,215,000 after purchasing an additional 157,305 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $192,987,000 after purchasing an additional 926,901 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 913,398 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $189,768,000 after purchasing an additional 136,382 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 625,449 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $129,943,000 after purchasing an additional 37,878 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Barclays reduced their price target on Darden Restaurants from $255.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.96.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $187.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $21.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.84. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.18 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.75 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 64.31%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the business's 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 sale, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,027,479.15. The trade was a 22.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total value of $160,160.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at $3,139,189.50. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,264 shares of company stock worth $5,024,790 over the last 90 days. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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