Janus Henderson Group PLC Raises Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 541.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,215 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.07% of Darden Restaurants worth $15,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Union Savings Bank purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 926.7% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $206.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $220.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $203.80 and its 200 day moving average is $203.14.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its 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. 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 business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total transaction of $8,181,354.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. This represents a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $2,047,665.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at $858,864.65. This represents a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 59,768 shares of company stock valued at $12,472,786. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.88.

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.