Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH Cuts Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH lessened its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 45.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $84,801,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $53,760,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $830,666,000 after purchasing an additional 247,542 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3,824.2% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 177,217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,819,000 after purchasing an additional 172,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $748,215,000 after purchasing an additional 157,305 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. Melius Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.15.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,109,816.95. This represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,341 shares of company stock worth $1,438,707 over the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $183.57 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $157.89 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $197.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.70. 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 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). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $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. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.