Westport Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Westport Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 35,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $7,210,000. Darden Restaurants accounts for approximately 2.9% of Westport Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $2,404,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 23,473 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,319,000 after acquiring an additional 5,830 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,587,939,000 after acquiring an additional 43,965 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 313.9% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,598 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,502,000 after acquiring an additional 10,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 61,922 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,395,000 after acquiring an additional 5,348 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $222.00 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $207.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.19. 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 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $229.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.60.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for 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. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DRI. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Evercore cut shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $2,047,665.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,864.65. This represents a 70.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total value of $8,181,354.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,009,682.76. This trade represents a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

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.