Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 37,679 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 36.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,545 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 37,679 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $13,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.7% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,151,000 after buying an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DRI. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. 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. Finally, Evercore downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,864.65. This trade represents a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.1%

DRI opened at $196.28 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $220.65. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $202.76 and a 200-day moving average of $202.93. The company has a market capitalization of $22.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Darden Restaurants Company 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.