Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Position Increased by Creative Planning

Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,050 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 690 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $6,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth $252,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,390 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 9,072 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,885,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.6% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 11,523 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,394,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the first quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. BTIG Research reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” 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 ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.82.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.4%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $170.37 on Thursday. 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 12 month low of $159.40 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.98. The stock has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.75 EPS. The business’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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Darden Restaurants’s 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.