Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Sells 34,040 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 82.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 34,040 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,486,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,613,781 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $144,483,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $113,301,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,884,339 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $346,756,000 after buying an additional 563,237 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 239.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 722,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $157,490,000 after buying an additional 509,655 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on DRI. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

Key Headlines Impacting Darden Restaurants

Here are the key news stories impacting Darden Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, with an average price target of $228.88. Deutsche Bank, Guggenheim, Stephens and Bank of America recently raised their price targets, signaling continued confidence in Darden’s longer-term growth prospects. Darden Receives Moderate Buy Recommendation
• Positive Sentiment: Darden’s latest quarterly results showed adjusted earnings of $3.66 per share, ahead of the $3.63 consensus estimate, while revenue increased 13.7% year over year to $3.72 billion. The company also reaffirmed fiscal 2027 earnings guidance of $11.10 to $11.35 per share. Darden Results Analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Darden increased its quarterly dividend to $1.62 from $1.50, bringing the annualized payout to $6.48 and the yield to approximately 3.1%. The higher shareholder return may support the stock’s income appeal. Darden Dividend Increase
• Neutral Sentiment: LongHorn Steakhouse reportedly posted 9.5% sales growth, but Olive Garden lagged, underscoring uneven performance across Darden’s brands. This leaves investors assessing whether higher-growth concepts can offset softness at the company’s largest chain. Darden Brand Performance
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares for approximately $8.2 million after exercising options, reducing his direct holdings by about 31%. CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares worth about $1.8 million, cutting his direct stake nearly in half, while SVP Susan Connelly sold 2,226 shares. The cluster of executive sales is likely weighing on near-term sentiment, although the CEO’s transaction was tied to an option exercise. Darden Insider Sales
• Negative Sentiment: Potential beef-cost inflation and cautious consumer spending remain risks to restaurant margins and traffic, particularly if price increases pressure demand at Olive Garden and other value-oriented concepts. Darden CFO Sale and Beef Inflation

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $203.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $203.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $220.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. The company’s 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. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.43%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,864.65. This represents a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total transaction of $8,181,354.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,146 shares in the company, valued at $18,009,682.76. This trade represents a 31.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 59,768 shares of company stock worth $12,472,786 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants 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.