QV Investors Inc. Trims Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

QV Investors Inc. reduced its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 37.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,682 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 19,800 shares during the quarter. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bowman & Co S.C. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.2% during the first 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. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.8% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Melius began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Twenty 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.15.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total value of $107,031.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,423 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,816.95. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,341 shares of company stock valued at $1,438,707. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $184.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $197.74 and its 200 day moving average is $204.74. 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 52-week low of $157.89 and a 52-week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.