SCS Capital Management LLC Invests $4.70 Million in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

SCS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 22,798 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $4,697,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.8% during the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Evercore lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $1,846,637.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 18,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,915,354.02. This represents a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $1,780,380.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,799,490. This represents a 49.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of DRI opened at $225.31 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $229.76. 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 company has a market capitalization of $25.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $206.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.68.

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 company 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%.Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 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.