Kingsview Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,303 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $681,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Union Savings Bank purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.50.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE DRI opened at $215.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.66. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $229.76.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 62.43%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 8,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,799,490. The trade was a 49.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,226 shares of the company’s 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 owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,028.05. This trade represents a 34.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

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.