Quantbot Technologies LP Buys New Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,448 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $710,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup upped 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. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $220.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total value of $8,181,354.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares in the company, valued at $18,009,682.76. This trade represents a 31.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,226 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.17, for a total value of $463,386.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,028.05. This trade represents a 34.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $218.95 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $229.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $209.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $204.71.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.43%.

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.