Hilltop National Bank Purchases Shares of 1,616 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. by purchasing 1,616 shares valued at approximately $352,000 in the second quarter.
• Insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares at an average price of $204.70, reducing their ownership by 9.81% to 10,632 shares.
• Darden Restaurants declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 3.1%.

Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,616 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at $84,801,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at $53,760,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 247,542 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3,824.2% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 177,217 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $36,819,000 after buying an additional 172,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 157,305 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total value of $236,837.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,176,370.40. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 2,013 shares of company stock valued at $412,738 in the last 90 days. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.96.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $193.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.77. The company's fifty day moving average is $202.83 and its 200 day moving average is $206.04. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.18 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

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

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 64.31%.

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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