Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Purchases 1,748 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 8.6%, purchasing an additional 1,748 shares, bringing their total holdings to 22,031 shares valued at $4.58 million.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Darden Restaurants, with current targets ranging from $212 to $253, indicating strong investor confidence and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Darden Restaurants also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, up from $1.40, and a $1 billion stock repurchase plan, reflecting positive financial performance and intentions to return value to shareholders.

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,031 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,688 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 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 valued at $849,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. 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 valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of DRI opened at $205.3880 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.75. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.98 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $210.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total transaction of $1,059,598.30. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,645.76. This represents a 98.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.