Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Burney Co.

Burney Co. lessened its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 35.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,117 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,340 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,486,434,000 after buying an additional 3,613,781 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,890 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $144,483,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $113,301,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,884,339 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $346,756,000 after purchasing an additional 563,237 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.6%

DRI stock opened at $201.22 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.22. 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 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $220.65. The firm has a market cap of $23.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during 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%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.32.

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.