Vista Investment Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Vista Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 50.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,432 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $830,666,000 after acquiring an additional 247,542 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $748,215,000 after purchasing an additional 157,305 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $192,987,000 after buying an additional 926,901 shares during the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 136,382 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.4% during 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 buying an additional 37,878 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. The trade was a 22.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total transaction of $107,031.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,109,816.95. This represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232 over the last quarter. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $212.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.54.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.6%

DRI stock opened at $208.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $24.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $207.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.14. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $155.18 and a one year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.