Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Acquires 21,350 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 75.6% in the first quarter, buying an additional 21,350 shares and bringing its total to 49,603 shares worth about $9.7 million.
• Darden Restaurants posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.66 topping estimates and revenue rising 13.7% year over year to $3.72 billion.
• The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $1.62 per share from $1.50, while analysts currently view the stock as a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $229.32.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 75.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,603 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 21,350 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $9,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,161,277 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,790,128,000 after purchasing an additional 322,079 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,587,939,000 after purchasing an additional 43,965 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,486,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,613,781 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,189,868 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $771,020,000 after purchasing an additional 68,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,918,165 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $537,001,000 after purchasing an additional 251,246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings cut Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $229.32.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock opened at $203.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50 day moving average of $202.39 and a 200-day moving average of $201.82. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $220.85.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 57.80%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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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