Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Buys 6,084 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,560 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 6,084 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.06% of Darden Restaurants worth $15,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $252,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,390 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 102.4% during the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 9,072 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,885,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 10.6% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 11,523 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Argus cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were 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 directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at $2,691,354.40. The trade was a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.4%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $171.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.40 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $187.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $202.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its 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 for 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%.Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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