Vista Investment Partners LLC Has $4.18 Million Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Vista Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 50.5% during Q2, acquiring an additional 6,432 shares, bringing its total ownership to 19,177 shares worth approximately $4.18 million.
• Darden recently announced a $1 billion share buyback plan, indicating management's belief that the stock may be undervalued; this plan allows the company to buy back up to 3.8% of its outstanding shares.
• The company reported earnings of $2.98 per share for its last quarter, slightly exceeding the analysts' expectations, and its revenue increased to $3.27 billion, a 10.6% year-over-year rise.

Vista Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 50.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,177 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares during the quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% in 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $748,215,000 after purchasing an additional 157,305 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% in 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 during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 17.6% in the first quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 913,398 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $189,768,000 after purchasing an additional 136,382 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 625,449 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $129,943,000 after purchasing an additional 37,878 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Argus cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, June 13th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.96.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded down $0.79 on Monday, reaching $183.94. 710,608 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,322,357. The firm's 50 day moving average is $206.37 and its 200-day moving average is $206.24. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $155.18 and a one year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $21.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.71.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. The business's revenue 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, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total value of $107,031.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,109,816.95. This represents a 8.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. The trade was a 22.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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.