Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Buys 902 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 40.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,110 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 902 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centennial Bank AR bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth $31,000. SouthState Corp bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $181.50 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.11 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $157.89 and a twelve month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $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 Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $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 3.3%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Melius initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $255.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, BTIG Research reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total value of $1,094,837.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company 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.