Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Bought by Creative Planning

Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,050 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $6,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on 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 reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.82.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:DRI opened at $170.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.26, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.40 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $186.47 and a 200-day moving average of $201.98.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. Darden Restaurants’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 firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

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.