Mystic Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Mystic Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 11,522 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,374,000.

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

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares in the company, valued at $18,009,682.76. This represents a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,226 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.17, for a total transaction of $463,386.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,028.05. The trade was a 34.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $217.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.86 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $208.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.32. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $229.76.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.88.

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.