3,739 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Acquired by Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,739 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $770,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total value of $8,181,354.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. The trade was a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $1,846,637.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 18,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,915,354.02. This trade represents a 32.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on DRI shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Stephens increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $221.81 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $229.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 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.