GSA Capital Partners LLP Acquires Shares of 3,202 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,202 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $660,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,613,781 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,212,283 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $629,736,000 after acquiring an additional 991,230 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $144,483,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $113,301,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,884,339 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $346,756,000 after acquiring an additional 563,237 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on 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 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Guggenheim boosted 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.4%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $222.00 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $207.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.19. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $229.76. The company has a market cap of $25.33 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.43%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.89, for a total value of $90,766.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,271.04. This represents a 7.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total value of $8,181,354.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 86,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,009,682.76. This trade represents a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984. Insiders own 0.67% 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.