IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $4.04 Million Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lowered its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 15.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,624 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,643 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,161,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,790,128,000 after buying an additional 322,079 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,587,939,000 after purchasing an additional 43,965 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the 4th 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,189,868 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $771,020,000 after purchasing an additional 68,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,918,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $537,001,000 after purchasing an additional 251,246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DRI. Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Evercore cut Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.32.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $203.84 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 stock has a market cap of $23.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $220.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $201.82.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.