Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Invests $1.62 Million in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 7,844 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,616,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $218.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $229.76. The firm has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $209.01 and its 200-day moving average is $204.71.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 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 business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $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. Sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $1,780,380.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,799,490. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 18,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,915,354.02. This represents a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders 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 topic of several research reports. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Evercore downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.12.

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.