Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Sells 2,749 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB reduced its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRIFree Report) by 5.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,165 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,749 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $10,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $291,000. Concord Asset Management LLC VA bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $670,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 69.3% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,922 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $855,000 after buying an additional 1,606 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 171.7% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 6,334 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after buying an additional 4,003 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 88.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,732 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,775,000 after buying an additional 5,973 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Melius started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Truist Financial cut 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. Barclays cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $255.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.59.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $184.95 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $155.90 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $200.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.44. The company has a market capitalization of $21.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.77.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRIGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total transaction of $107,031.95. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,109,816.95. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $1,094,837.40. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,674 shares of company stock valued at $1,507,575 over the last 90 days. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

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