Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Position Decreased by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio cut its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,828 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 6,172 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio owned 0.07% of Darden Restaurants worth $18,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 32.2% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at about $45,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on DRI. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $255.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Melius began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.82.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $180.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $195.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.23. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $157.89 and a twelve month high of $228.27.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for 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%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.