Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Stock Position Reduced by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp decreased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,437,041 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,477 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.23% of Darden Restaurants worth $298,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 31.8% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 3,677 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,376,000 after acquiring an additional 5,119 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,728,000 after acquiring an additional 7,902 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 924 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $540,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total transaction of $1,284,431.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. The trade was a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total value of $160,160.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,139,189.50. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232 in the last quarter. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $207.5560 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $24.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $211.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $204.34. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.23 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 67.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on DRI. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.