The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 259,175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $53,393,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.23% of Darden Restaurants at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Evercore lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim increased 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, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.12.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of DRI opened at $218.95 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $229.76. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.71.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants’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. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. 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 other news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total value of $1,846,637.12. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $1,780,380.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,799,490. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their position. 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

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.