Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 281,713 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $58,035,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.25% of Darden Restaurants as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth approximately $225,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth $303,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. AMG National Trust Bank bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $665,000. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,329,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.
Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.4%
Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $222.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $207.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.19. The company has a market cap of $25.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.60. 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 the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current 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 paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. 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 yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is currently 62.43%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total transaction of $8,181,354.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. The trade was a 31.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,110 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.32, for a total value of $226,795.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,754 shares in the company, valued at $2,197,257.28. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 over the last quarter. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.88.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Darden Restaurants
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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