Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Increases Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 66.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,495 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,161,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,790,128,000 after acquiring an additional 322,079 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,587,939,000 after acquiring an additional 43,965 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,486,434,000 after acquiring an additional 3,613,781 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,189,868 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $771,020,000 after purchasing an additional 68,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,918,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $537,001,000 after purchasing an additional 251,246 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $196.28 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $220.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.48 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $202.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released 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%.Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 currently 62.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Guggenheim raised 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. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at $858,864.65. This trade represents a 70.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.