Nykredit A S Acquires Shares of 48,432 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Nykredit A S bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 48,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $9,977,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 47.0% during the 2nd quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 8,469 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after buying an additional 2,708 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Renasant Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $253,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,755 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 28.1% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 17,564 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,853 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 86,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. The trade was a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan Connelly sold 2,226 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 valued at $14,636,984. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE DRI opened at $216.87 on Friday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $209.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $229.76.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $2.98 EPS. The firm’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. On average, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.25 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.50.

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.