SevenBridge Financial Group LLC Has $2.79 Million Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

SevenBridge Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 21.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,948 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,435 shares during the period. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.8% in the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust co grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.32.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $206.32 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $23.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $222.56.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.80%.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.