Woodline Partners LP Increases Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP significantly increased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. by 3,824.2%, now owning 177,217 shares valued at $36.8 million.
• Analysts have set a target price range for Darden Restaurants, with Truist Financial maintaining a "buy" rating at $252.00, and Wells Fargo increasing their target from $200.00 to $225.00.
• Darden Restaurants recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.50 per share and a $1 billion stock buyback plan, signaling confidence in the company’s valuation.

Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 3,824.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 177,217 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after acquiring an additional 172,701 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 0.15% of Darden Restaurants worth $36,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $192,987,000 after acquiring an additional 926,901 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth about $84,801,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth about $53,760,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $830,666,000 after buying an additional 247,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 145.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 385,029 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $71,883,000 after buying an additional 227,977 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,029,835.56. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total transaction of $160,160.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,139,189.50. This trade represents a 4.85% 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 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $252.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.92.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of DRI stock traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $212.62. 1,138,507 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 865,632. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.18 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company's 50-day moving average price is $207.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.71.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.