Transcendent Capital Group LLC Buys Shares of 2,890 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired 2,890 shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI), valued at approximately $630,000, in the second quarter.
• Darden reported $1.97 EPS for the latest quarter, missing analyst estimates, while revenue rose by 10.4% year-over-year to $3.04 billion.
• The company has authorized a stock buyback plan worth $1.00 billion, signifying confidence in its stock’s value, and a quarterly dividend of $1.50 will be paid to shareholders in November.

Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought 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 disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,890 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $630,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $830,666,000 after buying an additional 247,542 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $748,215,000 after buying an additional 157,305 shares in the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 913,398 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $189,768,000 after buying an additional 136,382 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 625,449 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $129,943,000 after buying an additional 37,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $84,801,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of DRI opened at $181.12 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.90 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The firm has a market cap of $21.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $201.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $205.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 64.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total value of $107,031.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,109,816.95. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total value of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,691,354.40. The trade was a 28.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,674 shares of company stock valued at $1,507,575 in the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.59.

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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