Commerce Bank Invests $9.99 Million in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Commerce Bank bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 48,511 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $9,994,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Union Savings Bank purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. KeyCorp upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 18,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,915,354.02. The trade was a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $1,780,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,799,490. The trade was a 49.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $221.81 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $229.76. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $208.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The company’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

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.