Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Bought by USS Investment Management Ltd

Posted by George Bondi on Jul 4th, 2026

USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Free Report) by 13.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,623 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Union Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of DRI opened at $203.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $220.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $202.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $201.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 57.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Seventeen 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.32.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on DRI

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

(Free Report)

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.