UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Increases Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 685,636 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 89,157 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $141,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,161,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,790,128,000 after buying an additional 322,079 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth $2,015,109,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,486,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,613,781 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,189,868 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $771,020,000 after purchasing an additional 68,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 44.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,212,283 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $629,736,000 after purchasing an additional 991,230 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on DRI. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Argus upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. This trade represents a 31.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $1,846,637.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 18,794 shares in the company, valued at $3,915,354.02. This trade represents a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984 in the last quarter. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $215.75 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $209.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.70. The stock has a market cap of $24.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $229.76.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.98 earnings per share. The company’s 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.25 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

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.