Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Buys 21,350 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 75.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,603 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,350 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $9,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,486,434,000 after buying an additional 3,613,781 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,675,000 after buying an additional 1,171,890 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $144,483,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $113,301,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,884,339 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $346,756,000 after acquiring an additional 563,237 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Evercore cut shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.32.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $203.84 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $220.85. The firm has a market cap of $23.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $202.39 and its 200 day moving average is $201.82.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 57.80%.

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.