2,900 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Acquired by Dickmeyer Boyce Financial Management Inc.

Dickmeyer Boyce Financial Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,900 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $569,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,161,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,790,128,000 after acquiring an additional 322,079 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,587,939,000 after purchasing an additional 43,965 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,613,781 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,189,868 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $771,020,000 after purchasing an additional 68,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,918,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $537,001,000 after purchasing an additional 251,246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,864.65. This trade represents a 70.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Evercore cut Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $193.98 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $220.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $202.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $202.98. The stock 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. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 3.3%. 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.