Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Acquired by Fulton Bank N.A.

Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 20.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,886 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,574 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 27,125 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,588,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $581,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $226,000. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $245,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 40.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 596 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $1,780,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,799,490. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.17, for a total value of $463,386.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,028.05. This represents a 34.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984 over the last quarter. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $217.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $204.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 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 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $220.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The company’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Evercore downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.88.

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.