Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Acquired by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 541.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,215 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $15,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at $449,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 39,238 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 20.6% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 393,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $77,149,000 after purchasing an additional 67,352 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,762 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth about $675,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. KeyCorp raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Stephens raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $206.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60. 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 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $220.65. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $203.14.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.43%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $1,780,380.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,799,490. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total transaction of $8,181,354.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. This trade represents a 31.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 59,768 shares of company stock worth $12,472,786. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.