18,351 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Acquired by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 18,351 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $3,781,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth $997,000. Keebeck Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $332,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Patron Partners LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $324,000. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $222,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 18,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,915,354.02. The trade was a 32.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,799,490. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $225.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.60. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $229.76.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released 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. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm 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 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Stephens lifted their price target 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. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.12.

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.