Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Skba Capital Management LLC

Skba Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 16.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,915 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 9,730 shares during the quarter. Skba Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $9,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,165,474.24. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. The sale 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 Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. This trade represents a 42.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DRI. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Melius Research upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.78.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $210.00 on Wednesday. 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 $24.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $205.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.81.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 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.