Hook Mill Capital Partners LP Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Hook Mill Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 72,867 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $15,883,000. Darden Restaurants accounts for 1.6% of Hook Mill Capital Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Hook Mill Capital Partners LP owned approximately 0.06% of Darden Restaurants at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.9% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 15,865 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,734 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,684,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.2% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 37,994 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 191,988 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $39,887,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $85,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday. BTIG Research dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.93.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.7%

DRI opened at $182.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $180.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.84. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $159.67 and a 12 month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.31%.

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.