PDT Partners LLC Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 39,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $8,108,000.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,110 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.32, for a total transaction of $226,795.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,197,257.28. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,864.65. The trade was a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984 in the last three months. 0.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Evercore cut Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.12.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $220.39 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $229.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.67. The stock has a market cap of $25.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G 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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period 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. On average, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued 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 2.9%. 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.