John Wilkerson Sells 2,258 Shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) insider John Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,787,992. This trade represents a 11.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.0%

DRI traded down $2.17 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $206.72. 223,921 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,842,952. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $23.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.68, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $186.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 62.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. GAM Holding AG increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the second quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 6,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the second quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DRI. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $207.00 target price (down previously from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.00.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.