OP Asset Management Ltd Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,265 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,404,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $2,404,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 23,473 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,319,000 after purchasing an additional 5,830 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,890 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 177.3% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,547 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,388,000 after buying an additional 8,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $6,743,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Key Darden Restaurants News

Here are the key news stories impacting Darden Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on Darden to $240 from $230 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling confidence in additional upside after the quarter. UBS price target increase on Darden Restaurants
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank lifted its target to $236 from $230 and kept a buy rating, citing room for continued gains. Deutsche Bank price target increase on Darden Restaurants
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG, Stephens, Piper Sandler, Robert W. Baird and others also raised targets after reviewing the quarter, which reinforces the market’s view that Darden’s brand strength and long-term earnings power remain intact. Analysts boost forecasts after Darden Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: The company beat fiscal Q4 EPS estimates, reported 13.7% year-over-year revenue growth, raised its quarterly dividend 8%, and authorized a new $1.5 billion share repurchase program, all of which are supportive for shareholder returns. Darden fiscal 2026 results and capital return actions
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s fiscal 2027 guidance was slightly below Wall Street’s EPS expectations and revenue came in just under forecasts, which tempers the post-earnings enthusiasm. Darden earnings coverage from CNBC
• Negative Sentiment: Some reports noted that Olive Garden and other comparable sales trends were mixed, suggesting that not all brands are accelerating evenly despite LongHorn Steakhouse’s strength. Mixed Q4 results and brand performance for Darden

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.32.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $213.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $200.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $222.56.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This trade represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants 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.