Prospector Partners LLC Sells 2,413 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Prospector Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 63,478 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,413 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $12,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 32.1% during the 2nd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 910 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 57.8% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.1% during the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,957,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $216.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.64. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $200.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

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 net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 62.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.78.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total transaction of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. This trade represents a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.