Jupiter Topco LLC Acquires New Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 64,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $13,221,000. Jupiter Topco LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Darden Restaurants as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Union Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Argus upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.89, for a total value of $90,766.27. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,134,271.04. This represents a 7.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $1,846,637.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 18,794 shares in the company, valued at $3,915,354.02. The trade was a 32.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $215.77 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 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 $229.76.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The company’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.43%.

Darden Restaurants 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.