Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,117 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. LMG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,996 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,307,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,692 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth $4,986,000. Finally, Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 918,387 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $200,181,000 after purchasing an additional 4,989 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 $2,691,354.40. The trade was a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total transaction of $236,837.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,176,370.40. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,341 shares of company stock worth $1,438,707. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $187.14 on Thursday. 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 moving average price of $198.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.63. The company has a market cap of $21.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.77. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.15.

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.