Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Buys 1,911 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 28,701 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,911 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $6,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bowman & Co S.C. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 32.2% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. GAM Holding AG raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% in the second quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 6,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $171.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $188.12 and a 200-day moving average of $202.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74. 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.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior 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, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. BTIG Research cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.82.

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 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.