Patton Fund Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 10,198 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased 10,198 shares of Darden Restaurants, valued at approximately $2.22 million, signaling institutional interest in the restaurant operator.
• Darden Restaurants recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, providing a 3.2% dividend yield to shareholders.
• After the release of their quarterly earnings, Darden missed EPS expectations by $0.04, reporting revenue growth of 10.4% year-over-year despite a decrease in earnings per share.

Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 10,198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,223,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bowman & Co S.C. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,099,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.2% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total transaction of $107,031.95. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,423 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,816.95. This represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total value of $2,937,010.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 46,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This represents a 22.65% 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Argus reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.96.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $188.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.71. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.18 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $204.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $205.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

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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