GAMMA Investing LLC Has $1.18 Million Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,391 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $830,666,000 after purchasing an additional 247,542 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 157,305 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.6% during the first quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 913,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $189,768,000 after acquiring an additional 136,382 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at $84,801,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on DRI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. BTIG Research cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.96.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $186.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.71. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.18 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $205.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.03. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding 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 typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total value of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This represents a 22.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total transaction of $236,837.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,176,370.40. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,264 shares of company stock worth $5,024,790. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.