Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Purchased by TD Asset Management Inc

TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 121.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,267 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 53,269 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc owned 0.08% of Darden Restaurants worth $21,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 124.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,471 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $929,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 31.8% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,164,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.4% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,725 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,851,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at $268,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total value of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total value of $236,837.90. Following the sale, the insider owned 10,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,176,370.40. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,674 shares of company stock worth $1,507,575 in the last quarter. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on DRI. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.59.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $188.16 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $199.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.91. The company has a market cap of $21.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.77. 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 one year low of $157.89 and a one year high of $228.27.

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

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

About Darden Restaurants

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.