Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,028 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 65 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,677 shares during the period. Choreo LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 5,119 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,728,000 after buying an additional 7,902 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 924 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 124.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,471 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $929,000 after buying an additional 2,477 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Melius initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $255.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at $2,691,354.40. The trade was a 28.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,176,370.40. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,674 shares of company stock worth $1,507,575. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE DRI opened at $186.90 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $157.01 and a 52 week high of $228.27. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.32. The firm has a market cap of $21.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

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

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.