Groupama Asset Managment Purchases 2,527 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Groupama Asset Management increased its stake in Darden Restaurants, buying 2,527 shares and bringing its total holdings to 24,025 shares worth nearly $4.93 million.
• Several other hedge funds have also significantly increased their positions in Darden, with GAMMA Investing LLC growing its stake by over 46,000% to nearly 928,895 shares.
• Darden Restaurants reported a 10.6% year-over-year revenue increase with an adjusted EPS of $2.98, beating analyst estimates, and has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.50 per share.

Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,025 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 2,527 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,688 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 4,053 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on DRI. Stephens raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was 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 owned 147 shares in the company, valued at $32,645.76. This trade represents a 98.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,029,835.56. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI traded up $1.95 during trading on Friday, reaching $208.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 863,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,008,201. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.31 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $211.11 and a 200 day moving average of $204.45. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $153.74 and a one year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.