Nicholas Investment Partners LP Buys New Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Nicholas Investment Partners LP purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,482 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $923,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $118,824,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $53,393,000. Visionary Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $299,000. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $465,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $7,004,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,110 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.32, for a total transaction of $226,795.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,197,257.28. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,864.65. This trade represents a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of DRI opened at $225.56 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $229.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.61. The stock has a market cap of $25.73 billion, a PE ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Stephens upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.12.

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.