Strathmore Capital Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Strathmore Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $544,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 44.8% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust co raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total transaction 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 approximately $18,009,682.76. The trade was a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $1,780,380.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,799,490. This represents a 49.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI 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 firm has a market capitalization of $25.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $229.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $207.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.19.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This is an increase 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%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DRI. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Evercore downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

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.