Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Increases Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 547.7% in Q1, holding shares worth $941,000 after acquiring additional shares during the period.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC and Choreo LLC, have also raised their stakes in Darden Restaurants, reflecting growing confidence in the stock.
• Darden recently reported $2.98 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.50 per share from the previous $1.40.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 547.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,534 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 3,834 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 31.8% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,164,000 after buying an additional 3,677 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,376,000 after acquiring an additional 5,119 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,728,000 after acquiring an additional 7,902 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 12.4% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 924 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $540,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $1.95 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $208.49. The stock had a trading volume of 863,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,008,201. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.74 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $211.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $204.48. The company has a market capitalization of $24.31 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares in the company, valued at $1,029,835.56. This trade represents a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total transaction of $1,284,431.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. This represents a 55.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232 in the last three months. 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.