Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases 14,156 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 424,673 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,156 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $78,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Union Savings Bank bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Argus upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE DRI opened at $203.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $220.85. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $202.39 and its 200 day moving average is $201.82.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued 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 business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

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.