Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 27,116 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $5,316,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Evercore downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target 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. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $203.84 on Friday. The company 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.82. 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 fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $220.85.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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 predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 57.80%.

Darden Restaurants 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.