Strive Asset Management LLC Makes New $2.86 Million Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 15,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,855,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 98.5% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 64,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,206,000 after purchasing an additional 31,815 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 164.1% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 3,027 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,536,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,816,000. Finally, Midwest Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,441,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $209.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.80. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The firm has a market cap of $24.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 62.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. This trade represents a 42.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus 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.