Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 76,913 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 93.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,766 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 76,913 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Centennial Bank AR bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 32.2% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the company’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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total value of $236,837.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,632 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold 7,341 shares of company stock worth $1,438,707 over the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $186.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 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’s 50 day moving average is $198.19 and its 200-day moving average is $204.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.77.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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%.

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.