Focused Alpha LLC Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Focused Alpha LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,368 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $488,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,015,109,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth approximately $265,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $103,322,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $335,000. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $774,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Argus raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $225.36 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $229.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $207.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $203.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.98 EPS. The company’s 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. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.43%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 86,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. This trade represents a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $1,846,637.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 18,794 shares in the company, valued at $3,915,354.02. This trade represents a 32.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 over the last quarter. 0.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

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.