Eastern Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Eastern Bank lowered its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 7.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,623 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 445 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $830,666,000 after purchasing an additional 247,542 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $748,215,000 after purchasing an additional 157,305 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 17.6% during the first quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 913,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $189,768,000 after purchasing an additional 136,382 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 625,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $129,943,000 after purchasing an additional 37,878 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth approximately $84,801,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Guggenheim increased their price objective 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, TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.59.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $181.12 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $205.60. The firm has a market cap of $21.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.77. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.90 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued 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 currently 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,176,370.40. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The stock was 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 represents a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,674 shares of company stock valued at $1,507,575. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.