Stephens Inc. AR Sells 12,974 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Stephens Inc. AR cut its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 12,974 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $8,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,615 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $787,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 75.4% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 893 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 6.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 28,605 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,699 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 51,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,198,000 after acquiring an additional 3,719 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE DRI opened at $207.61 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.62. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.00.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.