Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC Decreases Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC decreased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. by 65.5% during Q2, now owning only 730 shares valued at $159,000.
• Darden Restaurants reported a missed EPS estimate of $1.97 for Q3, compared to the expected $2.01, despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 10.4%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, representing a 3.2% yield, with an authorized share repurchase plan of up to $1 billion.

Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC decreased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 65.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 730 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,387 shares during the period. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bowman & Co S.C. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,099,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 32.2% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total transaction of $107,031.95. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,423 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,816.95. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total transaction of $160,160.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,139,189.50. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,264 shares of company stock worth $5,024,790 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $188.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $21.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.71. The company's 50 day moving average is $204.23 and its 200 day moving average is $205.84. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.18 and a 12-month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Argus decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.96.

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.

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