Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Bought by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,010,169 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 5,318 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $198,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,613,781 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $144,483,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $113,301,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 42.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 239.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 722,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $157,490,000 after purchasing an additional 509,655 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,864.65. The trade was a 70.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $198.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.62. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $220.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Evercore downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

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.