Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 32,553 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 166.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 52,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 32,553 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $10,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,161,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,790,128,000 after purchasing an additional 322,079 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,587,939,000 after purchasing an additional 43,965 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,486,434,000 after buying an additional 3,613,781 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,189,868 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $771,020,000 after purchasing an additional 68,245 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,918,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $537,001,000 after buying an additional 251,246 shares in 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 Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,864.65. This represents a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $195.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $220.65. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $202.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.52.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price 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. Citigroup increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.