PDT Partners LLC Buys New Shares in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 39,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $8,108,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $661,000. Nicholas Investment Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $923,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $118,824,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $53,393,000. Finally, Visionary Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $299,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 2.3%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $220.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $208.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $204.67.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. The business’s 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. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,915,354.02. This trade represents a 32.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,226 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $867,028.05. This represents a 34.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984 over the last three months. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.