2,900 Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Bought by Dickmeyer Boyce Financial Management Inc.

Dickmeyer Boyce Financial Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,900 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $569,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,404,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 23,473 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,319,000 after purchasing an additional 5,830 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 313.9% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,598 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,502,000 after purchasing an additional 10,313 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,587,939,000 after purchasing an additional 43,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,348 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Stephens increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $193.98 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $202.76 and a 200-day moving average of $202.98. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $220.65. The company has a market capitalization of $22.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 1.93 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $2,047,665.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,864.65. The trade was a 70.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.