Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 22,784 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors initiated a 22,784-share position in Darden Restaurants valued at approximately $4.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 93.64% of Darden’s outstanding shares.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $228.88; 17 analysts rate the stock Buy while 10 recommend Hold.
• Darden reported quarterly EPS of $3.66, slightly above estimates, while revenue rose 13.7% year over year to $3.72 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $1.62 per share, representing a 2.9% yield.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 22,784 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $4,694,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Union Savings Bank purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the company'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 value of $1,846,637.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 18,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,915,354.02. This represents a 32.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.89, for a total value of $90,766.27. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,536 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,134,271.04. This trade represents a 7.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $222.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.33 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $229.76. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $207.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.19. 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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 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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