Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $3.18 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Hennessy Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Melius started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total transaction of $107,031.95. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,109,816.95. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 2,013 shares of company stock worth $412,738 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $193.33 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.77. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.18 and a 1 year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.