Lbp Am Sa Trims Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Lbp Am Sa lessened its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 471 shares during the quarter. Lbp Am Sa’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $830,666,000 after acquiring an additional 247,542 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $748,215,000 after purchasing an additional 157,305 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.6% during the first quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 913,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $189,768,000 after purchasing an additional 136,382 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 625,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $129,943,000 after purchasing an additional 37,878 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter worth about $84,801,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total transaction of $236,837.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,176,370.40. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,013 shares of company stock worth $412,738. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $193.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.04. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $155.18 and a one year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Melius began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.96.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.