West Michigan Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

West Michigan Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 23.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,211 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 229 shares during the quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 124.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,471 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 3,677 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,489 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,953,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,415 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Melius began coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $255.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.15.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $184.92 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $157.89 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $21.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $197.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $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 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total value 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 represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,341 shares of company stock worth $1,438,707. 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.