Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 36.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,462 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.8% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.17, for a total transaction of $463,386.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,028.05. The trade was a 34.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.89, for a total value of $90,766.27. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,134,271.04. This represents a 7.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of DRI opened at $213.80 on Monday. 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 market capitalization of $24.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $204.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

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.