Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Takes $240,000 Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.2% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Melius Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Twenty 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.82.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $178.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $192.38 and a 200-day moving average of $203.53. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.40 and a 12-month high of $228.27.

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). The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

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.