Hsbc Holdings PLC Has $44.94 Million Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings cut its Darden Restaurants stake by 34.1% in the second quarter, selling 113,199 shares and retaining 218,480 shares valued at approximately $44.94 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93.64% of Darden’s stock.
• Wall Street maintains a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with 18 Buy ratings and 9 Holds and an average price target of $230.50. Several analysts recently raised their targets, including Citigroup to $245.
• 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, providing an annualized yield of about 3.0%.

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 34.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 218,480 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 113,199 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.19% of Darden Restaurants worth $44,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,941,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.8% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. BTIG Research raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $230.50.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $1,780,380.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,799,490. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,110 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.32, for a total value of $226,795.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,197,257.28. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984 over the last ninety days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $216.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 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. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $229.76.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.98 EPS. The company's revenue 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, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.43%.

Darden Restaurants 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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