Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Purchased by Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC

Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on DRI. Robert W. Baird lowered 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 reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.15.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $187.14 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $198.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.63. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $157.89 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $21.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.77.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced 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). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.31%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total transaction of $236,837.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,176,370.40. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,341 shares of company stock valued at $1,438,707. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.