Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Bought by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 195,455 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,267 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $37,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. MAI Capital Management increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. apricus wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.2% in the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Embree Financial Group increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.5% in the third quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,681 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers National Bank raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,597 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $203.74 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $206.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.76. 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 stock has a market cap of $23.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue 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. On average, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th were given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,761.28. This represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Barclays decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group reissued 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.89.

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.