Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys 8,010 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, owning a total of 231,548 shares valued at approximately $47.95 million.
• Darden Restaurants announced a $1 billion share buyback plan, allowing for the repurchase of up to 3.8% of its stock, indicating management's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend to $1.50 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $6.00 and a yield of 2.9%.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 231,548 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 8,010 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned 0.20% of Darden Restaurants worth $47,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total transaction of $107,031.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,423 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,816.95. This represents a 8.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 46,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,027,479.15. This represents a 22.65% 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 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of DRI opened at $210.25 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $208.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $205.40. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.98 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $24.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.71.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on DRI. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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