Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires Shares of 281,713 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 281,713 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $58,035,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,404,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 23,473 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,319,000 after purchasing an additional 5,830 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,587,939,000 after purchasing an additional 43,965 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 313.9% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,598 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,502,000 after purchasing an additional 10,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 61,922 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,395,000 after buying an additional 5,348 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Stephens raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Argus lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.4%

DRI stock opened at $222.00 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $229.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $207.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $204.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders 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 currently 62.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were 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 directly owned 86,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,009,682.76. The trade was a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $1,780,380.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,799,490. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984. 0.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.