Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, is doubling down on red meat.

It said Wednesday that it will acquire Ruth's Hospitality Group, owner of Ruth's Chris Steak House, for $21.50 per share. The all-cash transaction will have an equity value of about $715 million, Darden said.

The deal represents a 34% premium to Ruth Hospitality's closing price on Tuesday and a 32% premium to the 30-day volume weighted average price.

"The transaction will add to DRI's already strong position in the high-end steakhouse segment," wrote Benchmark analyst Todd Brooks in a Wednesday report. He has a Hold rating on shares.

Darden (ticker: DRI) said that before taxes, it expects savings and other benefits from the transaction to come in at between $5 million and $10 million within the first year and at between $15 million and $20 million in the second year.

The deal is also expected to add about 10 to12 cents to Darden's diluted net earnings per share in fiscal 2024, the year ending next May, not counting acquisition and integration-related expenses, according to the release.

"Ruth's Chris is a great complement to our portfolio of brands, and I'm pleased to welcome their nearly 5,000 team members to Darden," said Rick Cardenas, president and chief executive officer of Darden in the release.

News of the transaction—expected to be completed in June—sent shares of Ruth's Hospitality (RUTH) soaring 34% to $21.40 in Wednesday trading. That put the stock on pace for its largest percentage increase since March 24, 2020, when it rose 43%. If it ends the day above $20.85, it would mark a new 52-week closing high, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Darden stock was down 0.5% to $151.15. The restaurant company was a Barron's stock pick earlier this year.