Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 214 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 32.2% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.15.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock opened at $184.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $21.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.77. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $157.89 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $197.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend 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 currently 64.31%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.65, 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. This represents a 8.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the company’s 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 directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,341 shares of company stock worth $1,438,707. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.