Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by SPC Financial Inc.

SPC Financial Inc. cut its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,362 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 251 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 31.8% during the 1st 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 Darden Restaurants by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,376,000 after purchasing an additional 5,119 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,728,000 after purchasing an additional 7,902 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 12.4% during 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, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 124.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,471 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on DRI. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. Argus dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.59.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $181.12 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.90 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $21.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.58.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total value of $236,837.90. Following the transaction, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,674 shares of company stock valued at $1,507,575. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

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.