Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Stake Lowered by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 227,577 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 111,184 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned 0.20% of Darden Restaurants worth $43,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.9% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 126,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $24,042,000 after acquiring an additional 4,753 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 70.9% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 34,816 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,628,000 after purchasing an additional 14,447 shares during the last quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 4,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 295,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $56,381,000 after purchasing an additional 7,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 523.8% in the third quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 6,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 5,825 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $196.53 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $190.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total transaction of $1,450,448.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $207.00 price target (down previously from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.78.

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.