Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 10,376 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 278,117 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,376 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.24% of Darden Restaurants worth $52,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,055,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,063,609,000 after buying an additional 284,814 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,071,746,000 after acquiring an additional 100,270 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,073,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $887,988,000 after acquiring an additional 75,701 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,134,246 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $680,418,000 after acquiring an additional 175,811 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 45.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,917,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $417,935,000 after acquiring an additional 596,863 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $214.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $184.61 and its 200 day moving average is $194.76. 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.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. 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, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 62.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.00.

About Darden Restaurants

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.