Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Takes $15.37 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 74,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $15,370,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $471,000. Haverford Trust Co purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth approximately $231,000. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth approximately $15,474,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,156,000. Finally, Commerce Bank acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $9,994,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $220.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $208.85 and a 200-day moving average of $204.67. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $229.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.98 EPS. The business’s quarterly 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 predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Argus upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $1,780,380.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,799,490. The trade was a 49.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 directly owned 18,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,915,354.02. This trade represents a 32.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.