Cidel Asset Management Inc. Has $13.23 Million Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 57.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,502 shares during the quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $13,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nicholas Investment Partners LP acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $923,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,404,000. Integrity Alliance LLC. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2,139.4% in the fourth quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 59,837 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,011,000 after purchasing an additional 57,165 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $1,657,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 224.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,910 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,640,000 after purchasing an additional 6,166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, August 24th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total value of $8,181,354.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. The trade was a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Laura Williamson sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.89, for a total value of $90,766.27. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,536 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,271.04. This represents a 7.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.9%

DRI stock opened at $212.82 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $229.76. The company has a market capitalization of $24.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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