Comerica Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Comerica Bank decreased its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 5.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 36,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,192 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DRI. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $192,987,000 after purchasing an additional 926,901 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $84,801,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,919,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $53,760,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $830,666,000 after purchasing an additional 247,542 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total value of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares in the company, valued at $10,027,479.15. This represents a 22.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,835.56. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232 over the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $206.54 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $210.03 and a 200 day moving average of $204.59. The company has a market cap of $24.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.98 and a 12-month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%.The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.