Quantitative Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 8,484 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Quantitative Investment Management LLC has invested $1.76 million in Darden Restaurants, acquiring approximately 8,484 shares of the stock.
• Darden Restaurants will initiate a $1 billion share buyback program, indicating confidence in the company's stock valuation.
• The company reported a 10.6% increase in revenue year-over-year and beat analysts' EPS estimates for the quarter, demonstrating strong financial performance.

Quantitative Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 8,484 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,762,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 171.4% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 108.8% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter worth about $36,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on DRI. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Melius Research upgraded Darden Restaurants to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Darden Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of DRI traded up $0.56 on Wednesday, hitting $206.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 591,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 991,049. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $210.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $204.59. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.98 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%.The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. Darden Restaurants's quarterly 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current 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 given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,645.76. The trade was a 98.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,029,835.56. This represents a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.