Great Lakes Advisors LLC Invests $39.63 Million in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 192,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $39,630,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Darden Restaurants at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,941,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 44.8% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 443 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.89, for a total value of $90,766.27. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,536 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,271.04. The trade was a 7.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.17, for a total value of $463,386.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at $867,028.05. This trade represents a 34.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $218.85 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $207.60 and a 200-day moving average of $204.03. The firm has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $229.76.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DRI. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.