AMG National Trust Bank Buys 2,732 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

AMG National Trust Bank boosted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 135.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,750 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,732 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Center for Financial Planning Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 5,380 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,075,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 254,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,803,000 after buying an additional 5,642 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 111,515 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $21,861,000 after buying an additional 1,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SFE Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.9% in the first quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 5,785 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. KeyCorp upped 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. Argus lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.1%

DRI opened at $195.99 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $202.72 and a 200 day moving average of $202.56. The company has a market cap of $22.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $220.65. 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 earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.43%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $2,047,665.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,864.65. This represents a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.