Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Buys Shares of 3,759 Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 3,759 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $774,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 2.9%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $218.85 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $229.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $204.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $1.62 dividend. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

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 shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,864.65. This represents a 70.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $1,780,380.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,799,490. The trade was a 49.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.88.

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.