Cibc World Market Inc. Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 33,997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $7,004,000.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,226 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.17, for a total transaction of $463,386.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,028.05. The trade was a 34.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was 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 owned 86,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. The trade was a 31.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984 in the last three months. 0.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $220.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $204.67. The company has a market capitalization of $25.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $229.76.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on DRI. Guggenheim raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Stephens upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.12.

Darden Restaurants 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.