Hilltop National Bank Takes $352,000 Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $526,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 129.5% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,635 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 555.3% during the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $215,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $193.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.77. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.18 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.04.

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

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.31%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total value of $236,837.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,176,370.40. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 2,013 shares of company stock valued at $412,738 over the last three months. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Argus cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.96.

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.