Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 2,301 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 9.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,301 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $830,666,000 after acquiring an additional 247,542 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $748,215,000 after acquiring an additional 157,305 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $192,987,000 after acquiring an additional 926,901 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 17.6% during the first quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 913,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $189,768,000 after acquiring an additional 136,382 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 625,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $129,943,000 after acquiring an additional 37,878 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on DRI. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.96.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.3%

DRI stock opened at $187.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.71. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.18 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.00, for a total transaction of $1,514,882.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,132,006. The trade was a 32.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total value of $2,937,010.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 46,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This trade represents a 22.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,264 shares of company stock valued at $5,024,790 in the last quarter. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants 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.