WINTON GROUP Ltd Acquires New Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired 6,578 shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.36 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93.64% of Darden’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 18 Buy ratings and 9 Holds, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $230.79.
• Darden reported quarterly EPS of $3.66, exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 13.7% year over year to $3.72 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $1.62, implying a 3.1% annual yield.

WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,578 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,355,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nicholas Investment Partners LP bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at about $923,000. Integrity Alliance LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2,139.4% in the fourth quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 59,837 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $11,011,000 after acquiring an additional 57,165 shares during the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $1,657,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 224.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,910 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,640,000 after purchasing an additional 6,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 293,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $54,083,000 after purchasing an additional 53,549 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,226 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.17, for a total transaction of $463,386.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,028.05. This trade represents a 34.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total transaction of $8,181,354.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 86,146 shares in the company, valued at $18,009,682.76. This trade represents a 31.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Evercore downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $220.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Argus upped their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $230.79.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $209.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.60. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $229.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc NYSE: DRI is a full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It operates and franchises a portfolio of dining brands serving a range of cuisines, price points and occasions, with restaurants primarily located in the United States and select international markets.

Its restaurant portfolio includes Olive Garden, an Italian-American dining chain; LongHorn Steakhouse; Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen; Yard House; The Capital Grille; Seasons 52; Bahama Breeze; Eddie V's; Ruth's Chris Steak House; and Chuy's.

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