Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Grows Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 9.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,560 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,084 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $15,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,376,000 after acquiring an additional 5,119 shares during the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 913,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $189,768,000 after purchasing an additional 136,382 shares during the last quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth $3,646,000. Midwest Trust Co purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth $2,441,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 12.7% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,275,000 after purchasing an additional 4,804 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.82.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:DRI opened at $171.09 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $159.40 and a one year high of $228.27. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its 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). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’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. As a group, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was 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 owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,691,354.40. The trade was a 28.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by 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.