Sei Investments Co. Sells 3,594 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Sei Investments Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 516,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,594 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $101,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 926.7% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,864.65. This represents a 70.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on DRI shares. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.0%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $193.98 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $202.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $220.65. The company has a market capitalization of $22.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. 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%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

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.