Vise Technologies Inc. Invests $1.88 Million in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,112 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,877,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Stephens increased their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total value of $8,181,354.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 86,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,009,682.76. This trade represents a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,226 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.17, for a total transaction of $463,386.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $867,028.05. This represents a 34.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.8%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $221.81 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $229.76. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $208.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $204.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $25.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.37, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter 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. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This is an increase 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 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

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.