Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. Grows Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,745 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $413,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 124.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,471 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $929,000 after buying an additional 2,477 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 520.5% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,852 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,917,000 after buying an additional 15,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 203.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,637 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 2,438 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $181.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.77. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.90 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $201.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,691,354.40. The trade was a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total value of $107,031.95. Following the sale, the insider 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 7,674 shares of company stock worth $1,507,575 over the last 90 days. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Guggenheim raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.59.

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.