Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Increases Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.7%, owning 275,907 shares worth approximately $57.32 million.
• Darden Restaurants announced a $1 billion stock buyback plan, allowing the repurchase of up to 3.8% of the company's stock, signaling confidence in its valuation.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $2.98, exceeding analysts' expectations, with an annual revenue increase of 10.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 275,907 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 1,852 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.24% of Darden Restaurants worth $57,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $192,987,000 after purchasing an additional 926,901 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth about $84,801,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $48,919,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $830,666,000 after purchasing an additional 247,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 145.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 385,029 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $71,883,000 after purchasing an additional 227,977 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,029,835.56. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total value of $1,284,431.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,555 shares in the company, valued at $1,012,212.10. This trade represents a 55.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232 in the last three months. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $207.02. 701,694 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 923,422. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $204.83. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.98 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $24.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.31, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on DRI. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, June 13th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.19.

About Darden Restaurants

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.