Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Acquired by Fulton Bank N.A.

Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,886 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,574 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.8% in the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.9%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $217.84 on Tuesday. 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 $24.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $203.10. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $220.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was 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 owned 86,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,009,682.76. This represents a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,110 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.32, for a total value of $226,795.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,197,257.28. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984 in the last three months. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.88.

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.