Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 16,750 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $3,451,000.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Union Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insider Activity
In related news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $1,846,637.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 18,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,915,354.02. The trade was a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $1,780,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,799,490. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Darden Restaurants Price Performance
Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $215.77 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $229.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.60. The company's 50-day moving average is $209.00 and its 200 day moving average is $204.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.21.
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 the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.43%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. UBS Group increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Evercore downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $230.50.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on DRI
About Darden Restaurants
(
Free Report)
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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