Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Buys 1,345 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,692 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,345 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. SouthState Corp bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on DRI shares. Melius Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total transaction of $107,031.95. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,109,816.95. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,341 shares of company stock valued at $1,438,707. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $187.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $21.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.77. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $157.89 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $204.87.

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 the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.31%.

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.