Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 38.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,632 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,546 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 419.2% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $211.42 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $198.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.11. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $24.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.89%.

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.