Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 13,560 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group cut its Darden Restaurants stake by 5.1% in Q1, selling 13,560 shares and leaving it with 252,782 shares valued at about $49.6 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive, with 17 analysts rating DRI a Buy, 10 a Hold, and a consensus Moderate Buy target of $229.32. Several firms recently raised price targets, including Bank of America to $276.
• Darden posted solid results and raised its dividend: quarterly EPS of $3.66 beat estimates, revenue rose 13.7% year over year, and the company increased its quarterly dividend to $1.62 from $1.50.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 252,782 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 13,560 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Darden Restaurants worth $49,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,438,000 after buying an additional 2,553 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,151,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DRI. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Stephens boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Darden Restaurants from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $229.32.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $204.21 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $220.65. The firm has a market cap of $23.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day moving average of $202.77 and a 200 day moving average of $202.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.98 EPS. The company's revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at $858,864.65. This represents a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Darden Restaurants News

Here are the key news stories impacting Darden Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised its estimates for several future quarters, including Q1 2028, Q2 2028, Q3 2028, and FY2029, suggesting improving longer-term earnings power for Darden. DRI stock page
• Positive Sentiment: The latest commentary still implies solid profitability ahead, with FY2028 EPS projected at $12.17 and FY2029 EPS at $13.19, which supports the bullish case for the restaurant operator. DRI stock page
• Neutral Sentiment: The company recently reported quarterly earnings that slightly beat EPS expectations, while revenue was just below estimates; that results mix is not a major new catalyst but continues to show steady operating performance. DRI stock page
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks trimmed some near-term forecasts, including Q1 2027, Q2 2027, Q3 2027, Q4 2027, FY2027, FY2028 Q4, and Q4 2028 EPS, which could weigh on sentiment because it suggests some earnings pressure in the nearer horizon. DRI stock page
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by SVP Susan Connelly, who sold 9,930 shares, may also be a small headwind for investor sentiment, even though it does not change the company’s fundamentals. Article on insider sale

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden's restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand's positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.

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