16,750 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 16,750 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $3,451,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. BTIG Research increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target 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. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,799,490. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,134,271.04. This represents a 7.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 in the last three months. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 2.2%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $215.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $209.00 and a 200 day moving average of $204.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $229.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued 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 business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

Darden Restaurants 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.