Corient Private Wealth LP Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 27,931 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $5,754,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.50.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $214.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $209.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $229.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.25 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,864.65. The trade was a 70.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.32, for a total value of $226,795.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,197,257.28. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

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.