Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. Sells 58,510 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. decreased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 94.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,466 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 58,510 shares during the period. Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $755,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Choreo LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46.0% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,376,000 after acquiring an additional 5,119 shares in the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 913,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $189,768,000 after purchasing an additional 136,382 shares during the last quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter worth $3,646,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,275,000 after purchasing an additional 4,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Trust Co purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth about $2,441,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $174.33 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.40 and a 12-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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $188.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $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 forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRI. Argus dropped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.82.

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.